Bella Bearce '24 Recruiting Profile

For my collegiate interests,  I’m interested in a pre- vet /wildlife biology . I would like to swim and play softball in college . I understand these are lofty goals, but I have always been very motivated. 

I have always loved being in the water and swimming since being a very young child. The first time I swam competitively in a club as an 8 year old, I qualified for states. I swam for the ymca club team and traveled to states every year and was ranked as a young swimmer . In middle school we had a mixed boys and girls team , I was a very fast competitor and no one in the surrounding schools I competed against could beat my times.  Unfortunately, my school doesn’t have a girls high school swim team and I have to swim on the boys varsity team. COVID also affected by freshman and sophomore year .  As a freshman, my coach didn’t want to put me against boys in the freestyle or back and I became very discouraged about swimming and my ability.   I joined the boys varsity again and decided to give it another try. I had played travel softball and soccer as well, but missed swimming. I did well in the 50 free and broke the school record for girls (when they had a team) I wasn’t able to swim the 100 free in meets, which I would really like to work on, nor was I allowed to swim any back stroke, which was the stroke I initially swam as a young girl.  I plan on continuing to swim on the boys varsity just because I love being in the water,.  It has been very discouraging at times to be a girl and to not to be given much coaching or opportunities like my boy teammates. My I am always reminded I am swimming on a boys varsity team.
When my parents got divorced in 2018 and club swim was  financially no longer an option, I was devastated that opportunity to swim competitively ended   . I feel many obstacles have been placed in front of my swimming career, but I haven’t  given up. I also would like to pursue  a career related veterinary medicine and I have recently become certified to scuba dive in open water .  I feel at home in the water and always have.   I haven’t had a lot of coaching by people who know competitive swim, it’s usually been a parent of another swimmer. I think with the right coaching and opportunities, I could still be a highly competitive college swimmer along with pursing my career goals . I am also interested in playing college softball .