Kade Opsal '26 Recruiting Profile

My name is Kade Opsal. I'm entering high school this year.  I'm an athlete whose passion is competitive swimming.  In addition for swimming for my school team (Adrian High School), I  swim with my club team (Lenawee County Gators) as well as summer league (OMSSL) team  the Waverunners out of Bohn Pool. I also run track in the spring. I stay in shape year round and work on dryland workouts with a strength and conditioning coach (Toby Ernst). This helps me maintain my fitness and racing goals throughout the year and in the off season. 

My love of competition is the exhilaration of competing that heightens my senses and drives me in the water to strive to perform well.  I take great satisfaction winning a heat, an event or getting a personal best.  I love to be a team member scoring points, contributing and making a difference in winning a meet.  I enjoy relays by leading off in the Medley Relay with backstroke helping gain the lead or anchoring in free when our team is just a little behind and it is up to me to pull ahead or to keep the lead.  That adreline rush is what makes me put in all the hard work inside and outside of the pool. 

I take pride in my education and grades. In middle school, I was on the honor roll all three years. I was a also member of NJHS.  In middle school, I took advanced math and science classes. Entering high school, I plan to coninue taking advanced classes as well.

In 2020, I started to swim with my club team (Gators) and that is when I fell in love with the sport and knew I wanted to taking my swimming further than high school. In middle school I was part of the state swim team, where we were state champs in 2 events. (400 free relay, 200 yard free relay), placed 3rd in 100 IM, and 3rd in 100 back in my individual events. I also swam in the 2021 and 2022 Michigan 9 and over YMCA Championships. I  qualified and competed in The Great Lakes Zones Y Championships in 2021  and 2022.   In summer of  2021, I was part of the relay team who broke our OMSSL record in 200 Medley relay. In 2022, I broke the OMSSL 13-14 boys record for 50M  backstroke. These events really helped me focus on my goals and love the sport even more.    

Competitive swimming has shown me the benefits of hard work, dedication, time management, and teamwork.  I am dedicated and committed to my education, my sport, and team.  The training discipline required, a strong work ethic, team work, and a positive mindset have prepared me for furthering my swimming career at the collegiate level.  I imagine being on a college swim team that will give me the feeling of belonging to a group, having a connection to those that are like me, who want to work hard and be successful inside and outside of the pool.  I have always been told you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and swimmers tend to be dedicated athletes, good students, and positive leaders in their school. I was selected to be on a Leadership team for Waverunners team, where we volunteered and helped with coaching the younger kids practices, team bonding and building events, and leading the team in team cheer. I would bring the positive attitude, hard work, dedication, and some humor to the team, while being a great student and balancing acedemics and my athletic committments.  My character would be someone you would want to represent your team in and outside of the pool. 

I appreciate you taking the time to read my personal statement and getting to know more about myself as a person.