Kylie Martin '18 Recruiting Profile

I started swimming for my school’s club team when I was eight years old.  By the time I was ten, I realized I loved the sport of swimming and wanted to be more challenged than I was on my club team.  My goal was to become the best swimmer I can be, so my parents moved me to the York YMCA swim team.  Being a part of the York YMCA team has taught me to have a great work ethic and how to be committed to something for which I truly have a passion.  I have learned how to push myself through difficult times and how to turn my failures into learning experiences that motivate me to make something even better of myself.

One particular experience occurred during the 2016 summer long course season.  I successfully finished the winter short course season with significant drops in times in my best events.  I was really excited about the upcoming summer season because a few of my times ended up within 0.02 seconds of the YMCA National short course cuts.  My goal for the summer was to make the long course cuts so I could attend the national meet with my teammates in the summer.  I thought it would be easy to make the long course qualifying times since I came so close to the short course times.  I worked hard throughout the season, but found it to be far more difficult to drop time than I expected.  By the time the last meet started, I had no cuts and was both physically and mentally exhausted from swimming so many close, yet unsuccessful  races.  I seriously doubted my ability to achieve my goal that summer.  However, in the last meet I finally got the national cuts in my two best events.  With the support of my coaches and teammates, I reached my goal!

I have always been a swimmer who works hard and is typically always improving, so I struggled mentally when I was not swimming well.  I spent the 2016 winter season diligently working with my coaches and others to learn from the experience, so that when I face obstacles in the future, I am better prepared to handle them.  I will not allow those times of difficulty to beat me.   I am now more focused and motivated than ever before because of this experience.

I am looking for a program promotes values that are similar to my current team.  The mission of the York YMCA swim team is to be a place where excellence, both academic and athletic, is valued, encouraged, supported, admired, protected, nurtured, respected, and emulated.  I believe I have the talent and motivation to compete at the collegiate level.  If given the opportunity, I intend to bring my strong work ethic, as well as my character, mental toughness and passion to the team so that I can make an impact to the program in a positive way.