Jay Pae '23 Recruiting Profile

“Non-sibi,” meaning “not for self” is the motto of Phillips Academy at Andover.  This instills in me a sense of dedication on campus, and I work hard to live my life in a way that upholds the values of my community and improves upon them.  This motto also translates to my swimming as well, as while I am passionate about this sport and work hard on my own performances and development, I also enjoy practicing together with my teammates and helping them achieve their goals. Whether its at practice, the gym, or in relays, I always encourage my peers to be our best selves.  I aspire to continue doing so in college, both in the classroom and the pool. I have always considered myself to be a student-athlete, and I very much look forward to helping my next team thrive.

It has however, been very tough for me to keep up and improve my performance during my high school years as a result of not only being constrained to swimming during the winter due to it being offered as a sport for one term only, but also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Consequently, during the three months I am able to swim with the varsity team at Andover and the time I spend during summer break with my club team back home, I  always practice diligently to push myself to the limit and make the most of the little time I have, getting to know my teammates and help them out in the process. This let me perform when my team needed me the most, and given that my coach has always said that I have great potential to be a national level distance swimmer, I am confident that with year round training at college, my performance will improve significantly.