Brandon Cortez '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Brandon Cortez. I swim for my club team, the Fanwood Scotch-Plains YMCA, and my high school, Newark Academy. Second to school, swimming has been one of my main focuses. It has taught me much about myself, such as perseverance, time-management, discipline, and how to set ambitious yet achievable goals. Since I have joined the sport, I always had the goal of swimming in college regardless of what division it is. As a result, I have and will continue to hone and perfect my strokes. 

Going into college, I want to uphold my belief that academics and grades are most important with swimming as my second priority. As a result, I will continue to work towards a strong GPA in college. I want to find a college that has a strong academic program coupled with a fast swim team. 

In terms of swimming, I will best fit into a team with strong coaches, camaraderie, and competition. Going into college, I would like to develop a positive and open relationship with my coach, as I believe it will benefit my training and performance at meets. In addition, I want to be a motivator and leader both in and out of the pool. Although swimming is often viewed as an individual sport, I consider it a team sport; it would be much more difficult for swimmers to reach their full potential without teammates pushing them during practice. Thus, I believe I would be a strong motivator and will help my teammates achieve their goals in the pool.