Lily Kuivila '20 Recruiting Profile

I only began serious competitive swimming in my junior year of high school but, I have fallen in love with the sport. I always had a strong sense for the water when I was growing up and swam on a club team when I was eight.

I was encouraged to try swimming again in high school and found unexpected progress and success. My very first race was the 100-yard freestyle and I struggled to keep pace with the swimmers around me. I finished second to last. My inaugural season continued and eventually, I had the fastest 100-free time on the team and second fastest 50-free. I show up to every practice ready to work and the change that I saw throughout the season proved to me that my hard work and dedication could amount to something significant. I qualified for the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Division II finals in the 100-free and placed 15th overall. I am a leader on the team and it is important to me to build relationships with the younger members to positively influence them in and out of the pool.

Academically, I am looking for a college that is going to challenge me, encourage me to take risks, and inspire collaboration between peers. In the classroom, I am a leader and maintain a high GPA. I struggled to acclimate to the higher expectations of a private high school, so my GPA suffered, however, I believe that my transcript sophomore and junior year proved that I am capable of much more. Community service is also important to me and I traveled to Tobatí, Paraguay sophomore year to do 10 days of community service with the school and citizens of the town. Summer of junior year I participated in the Brandeis Service Corps summer program and did community service with organizations in the Boston area.

I never expected to swim in college, however now I cannot imagine a collegiate experience without swimming in one facet or another. I strive to do my best everyday and take every setback as an opportunity to improve.