Audrey Atienza '20 Recruiting Profile

I started swimming for a summer league at age 6 in Katy, Texas. As the years went on, I played many different sports, but as I returned each summer my love for swimming far outweighed the rest. At age 12, I joined a year-round USA Swimming club team while participating in my school’s volleyball and cheerleading teams. I had this schedule for two years along with my summer league until I moved to San Ramon, California in 8th grade. At that time I felt I had to choose which direction I was going to take, so I joined the swim club closest to me and I have had no regrets since.

When I started high school, I immediately became involved with the school and was accepted into the Leadership Program. There, I have contributed to planning school rallies, recognizing student athletes, and publicizing events. This year, as a junior, I am Associated Student Body (ASB) speaker and co-chair of the publicity committee. As ASB speaker, I speak at PTSA meetings monthly and District Board meetings semi-annually to communicate what is happening at my school. In the community, I am a member of National Charity League (NCL), a mother-daughter group that volunteers throughout the community. Last year alone, I served over 100 hours of community service. This year, I am the president of the junior class and I work to inspire the girls and moms to continue serving our community. Along with these responsibilities, I attend nine practices a week and keep my goal of having above a 4.0 grade point average. My schedule brings challenges that I constantly learn from and I look forward to continuing to master my time management skills.

My freshman year brought one of the toughest challenge and year of my life. As I was warming up at a swim meet in January 2016, I collided heads with another swimmer in the pool. After swimming two races with nausea, muscle spasms, fatigue, and an indescribable headache, I discussed my symptoms with my coach, met with the meet director, and left the meet. From there, my headache and symptoms continued to get worse and it was concluded by a doctor that I had a concussion. Unable to read or write, I was out of school and out of the pool for three months. When I wasn’t at a neurologist or a physical therapist, I spent a majority of those days in my dark room, upset and stressed that I was getting behind in both academics and swimming as well as missing my first high school season. When I started swimming again, I suddenly feared the sport I once adored. I could only last 30 minutes in the water before my symptoms became too much to handle. There were an ample amount of times I could have stopped it all and given up, but by staying focused and determined, I was able to move up to the highest group on my team in December 2016. For a year following the accident, I continued to have symptoms that greatly affected me in the classroom and in everyday life. Now that I am fully recovered and can reflect on that year, I feel grateful for all that it taught me. Without this injury, I know I would not be the person or swimmer I am today. I learned so much about myself and I discovered a strength in me that I didn’t know I had until after that chapter of my journey was completed.