Sara DeFor '21 Recruiting Profile

Swimming has been an important aspect of my life since the age of 8. I love swimming in competitive meets and working towards new goals. My favorite thing about swimming is the combined individual and team goals such as improving on personal records while at the same time helping the team or club place well in competitions such as the Minnesota YMCA State Championships or True Team State Championships for the high school.

My individual achievements have included winning YMCA state titles in the breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley for the last three years, breaking 7 team and pool records in the breaststroke, butterfly and IM, being voted MVP and captain for the YMCA team for the last 3 years, lettering for the Edina High School team for the last 4 years and swimming in the True Team State Championships in the breaststroke. My team achievements have included winning the team YMCA State Championship for Minnesota, contributing to 2^nd and 3^rd place finishes in the True Team State Championships for the Edina High School team along with multiple varsity team victories.

In addition, being a student-athlete in high school has had a significantly positive impact on my academic and social life, helping to create a balance between the two. Although practices are long, it is a specified period where I can just focus on swimming. I believe this break in the day helps me to stay more focused on academics as well, leading to a 3.96 GPA. Socially, I feel the swim team and clubs have been a second family. I want to swim in college because I have a strong passion for swimming and want to continue competing and improving my times after high school. I also hope to develop new and lasting friendships by being part of a college swim team.

I feel that whichever school I choose will most likely be a very good fit both for me and the school. My coaches and parents describe me as a very driven person, whether it is in athletics, academics or other interests. Outside the pool, I love to climb fourteeners in Colorado, cross country ski and run in various races or perform in my school Concert orchestra. I believe my drive will benefit the school as well as continue to benefit myself.

My goals for college are to find a good fit for athletics, academics and my social life. I feel that the type of college where I can contribute the most academically and athletically will be a Division III school. Academically, I am leaning towards math and science but I like the idea of a school with broad possibilities and academic success.