Wiilhem (Beckett) Jaffe '21 Recruiting Profile

    Although I've been active in water sports my entire life, I didn't embrace the possibility of swimming competitively on a collegiate level until my sophomore year in high school. Prior to sophomore year, I developed strong swimming skills and an interest in competition as an off shoot of my participation in Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol's LIT and Ocean Rescue Squad. As an early member of the lifeguard in training program, I learned sportsmanship and how to be a team player in addition to developing ocean rescue skills and competing against other squads. By the time I aged out, I was placing in the top 3 competitors in the island competitions among 5 municipalities. As I got older, I felt responsible for helping the younger kids learn new skills and took on a leadership role in guiding those kids who struggled or didn't believe they could accomplish a drill. Upon completion of the training program, I was accepted onto the beach patrol as a guard and member of the competition team.

    I joined the Southern Regional High School swim team freshman year as an opportunity to meet new classmates and participate in school activities. I qualified for the varsity swim team, enjoyed learning freshwater swim techniques, and competing against my peers. Sophomore year showed continued improvement with the assistance of swim coach Danielle Strader-Bordi and I began to think swimming on a collegiate level was attainable. In pursuit of this goal, I maintained training workouts with Jared Shoemaker, HCBP lifeguard, Olympic duathlete, and professional triathlete. My goal this year is to achieve <23 seconds in scy 50 freestyle and <56 seconds in scy butterfly.