Mya Wallace '19 Recruiting Profile

My name is Mya Wallace and I am a rising senior at De La Salle Institute located on 3434 S. Michigan Avenue in Bronzeville, Chicago, Illinois. I am interested in swimming in college and would like to speak with you about your program and how I might fit your needs in the future. Currently, my cumulative GPA is 3.6, my ACT score is 18.

I started swimming competitively when I was 6 years old for Foster Park in the Chicago Park District program. I relocated parks when I was 9 years old. I swam for Hayes Park until I was 14 when I decided it would be better for me to join a year-round program in preparation for high school. I joined Midway Aquatics Club prior to starting my freshman year of high school swimming.  I participated in De La Salle’s swim and water polo team my freshman and sophomore years and continued to compete and train with Midway Aquatics outside of the high school seasons. As I entered my junior year, I talked with my club coach, Kate Chronic, about the pros and cons of swimming high school and decided I would be better off training and competing for my club team due to some of the constraints with high school swimming.

During the first two years of high school, I was sure I wanted to join the swim team but I knew I was talented in water polo too. When high school season ended, I continued to swim for my club. I later went back to De La Salle to play for their water polo team. I enjoyed both sports but my love was swimming for my club. As my high school swim and water polo team started to fall apart, I had to make the decision if I was going to continue. Junior year I took a step back from the high school team because I wanted to improve my skills in swimming. The high school team did not fulfill the requirements and goals I needed to become a great swimmer. Although I was upset that I would not compete against other high school teams or enjoy time being on an all girls’ team, I managed to improve my skills on the Midway Aquatics club. Since swimming for my club year round, I have learned swimming is about teamwork, just because we do not swim together in our events we all improve as a team. By the end of this past season, I made great improvements in 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. I now feel I am an aquatically gifted athlete and look forward to future accomplishments in the upcoming long course season.