Bryanna Tromp '23 Recruiting Profile

My mom has pictures of me at three months old smiling in the pool. She says I loved the water from the beginning and begged her to let me swim for the team. I went off the blocks for the first time when I was five. I took time off here and there, but came back to swim in middle school and haven’t voluntarily left since.

In April 2017 (6^th grade), I tore my ACL and meniscus in two places. I had surgery two months later and, because of the where the meniscus tears were, had a long and painful three-month recovery. The day after I was cleared, I started swim practice. 

A few months later, I started getting sharp abdominal pains. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I went to school and swam when I was able and sometimes even when I didn’t know how I would make it. But I was still a straight-A student, member of the band, and swim team . . . even swimming Junior Olympics and then States.

In April 2018 (7^th grade), the pain was so bad, the school called my mom, and she rushed me to the ER. In an exploratory surgery, the doctors discovered that my abdomen was full of infection and scar tissue. I had a septic fungal infection that sent me to the Pediatric ICU where I fought for my life. Eleven days later, I was released and couldn’t walk even short distances without a walker. The doctors were still running tests to try and figure out what happened.

Six weeks later, I returned to swim. That night I had a reoccurrence of the abdominal pain and my mom rushed me to the ER again. I had a high grade bowel obstruction from the scar tissue. After two surgeons worked on me for 4 hours to remove the scar tissue and my appendix, I spent another nine days in the hospital. Again I was forced to use a walker to move short distances.

Complications from the surgeries, NG tubes, and what turned out to be a rare case of appendicitis that had been leaking into my belly for months (the cause of all that original pain) sent me to the hospital a total of six times in a year. Each time I fought back and returned to the pool the moment the team of doctors and therapists let me. Once I was back in the pool the day after I was released from the hospital.

Today, I live with a pre-cancerous condition that, with the OTC medicines the doctors have prescribed, will likely never turn cancerous. But I have regular blood tests and scans to make sure my body is healthy and strong.

After every hospital visit, test, and needle, I worked my way back to swim and school, friends and life, each time with a little more fight, a little more skill, and a little more speed.

I am the definition of grit and determination. I will do what is necessary to achieve the goals my teachers, my coaches, and I give me and encourage my teammates to do the same.