Isabelle (Belle) Caldwell '21 Recruiting Profile

The highlight of my career was my high school freshman year where I learned how much I loved swimming for something bigger than myself.  I was fortunate to help bring both my relays to state along with earning a state personal swim and final, which is no small feet in 6A Texas swimming!  The joy I felt placing in the 200 free relay with my teammates was something I will never forget and will continue to aspire for.  However, I feel I grew the most as a student-athlete the beginning of my sophomore year when my beloved club team fell apart.  The national coach left and I was without an experienced coach for long course training for almost six weeks.  I not only lost my team, I lost my teammates who all scattered to different clubs.  I held on as long as I could as I felt fiercely loyal to my club but had to make the hard decision to leave.  Due to missing important training at the beginning of the season I struggled the entire long course season.  I immediately loved my new team but time was lost.  On top of that my Mimi unexpectedly passed away right after I joined my new club.  I had to face not meeting my expectations as an athlete throughout the season and my goals were not met at the end of the season.  I learned to dig deep and continue to give my best despite falling short and to focus on what I had instead of what I had lost.  While I did not have a best long course season, I was able to continue to work hard, keep my head high, win points for my high school team, and earn spots for my relays and a personal spot once again at state.  My high school coach told me over and over again during my sophomore year he was impressed with my grit.  I never gave up on myself or my teammates.

Another passion of mine is my academics.  I love to learn and strive to achieve academic excellence.  I plan to continue to earn high grades throughout college and attend graduate school.  I have not decided on a career path as of yet but I do know my passion is to have a career where I can make a difference in people's lives.