Katerina Stebbins '24 Recruiting Profile

For me swimming is not just about winning. It's about challenging myself and being in a family that I can rely on to help me push myself. When I was 11, I started taking lessons at my local YMCA. After only a few weeks I completed the goals that promoted me to the swim team. I remember looking at the faster kids in the other lanes wishing I was as fast. With work and determination, it only took me a couple months to make it to the top lane. I joined my middle school team in 7th grade. Within the first week they had put me int he fastest group and gave me nicknames, "Hurricane Kat" and "Kat 5". This really made me feel like I was a part of the team. For high school, I was afraid of joining a completely new team. At the call-out meeting a junior offered to take me to practice, making me fell included...At that moment I knew I wanted to be a part of the team: to have that feeling of having friends and a welcoming swim family to encourage me in all different ways. Now, as an upperclassman, I am not only aiming to strengthen all of my strokes but to also go to state for the 100 Fly. I also want to give the same encouragement and acceptance to the incoming students that I received when I joined.