Ruth Perez '24 Recruiting Profile

    Hello, my name is Ruth Perez. My swim career started at the age of 5 years old. In my 12 years of swimming, I have accomplished numerous of awards including four high-point championship trophies and a Missouri Valley record. These awards are a good representation of my skills and determination. However, they are not the only things I want to highlight. I show my dedication and hard work in the many sacrifices I have made for swimming. Currently, I travel an hour and twenty minutes to attend swim practice six days a week. When I was younger it was apparent I had a gift for swim and I had no problem dedicating a great deal of my life to swim. This dedication payed off as I was number one in most events and got to travel out of state to attend national swim meets in Florida and California. For many years,  swim was a safe space where I felt confident in whatever I did. Like most things, that came to an end after quarantine, as I was far from the same swimmer. 

    Multiple hardships had found me in which disrupted my mental health, and in turn my swimming. The next three years were difficult and everyday seemed like an unbearable challenge. There were moments where it felt like the old times and everything was alright. More often though, it felt like my school work, swim, social and person life were crumbling all around me. There was still a glimmer of hope for the future so I slowly started to build my life back up from scratch. Then realized I was behind the schedule I had set for myself many years ago. No matter how much I felt like a failure, I continued to work and fix my mistakes. Today, I am working harder than ever to catch up with everything. I have a new focus and excitement for my future swim career. There are no greater bumps in the road that can fumble the hard work that I am willing to put into swim and I know this determination will transfer into my future as a college swimmer.