Marina Martorell Sanchez '24 Recruiting Profile

I am a swimmer who has dreamed of swimming at the collegiate level since I started swimming at competition level when I was eleven. There are many reasons why I would like to continue my swimming career after high school. First, is my love of competition. I take great satisfaction winning a heat, an event or getting a personal best. I feel good with myself when I reach my goals. It shows me and my coaches that my dedication to my training is not in vain. I love to be the team member scoring points and making a difference in winning a relay and meet.

Another reason why I want to swim at the collegiate level is to belong to a team. My swim team has been like a family to me. I moved to Texas to course my sophomore and currently my junior year of high school. I am from Spain, and I will be the first generation being in an American University and also swimming at the same time. That progress was a difficult time but being connected to a new swim team and the feeling of having an instant connection to those that are like me, who want to work hard and be successful made the transition easier.

Also, swimming at the collegiate level will help develop my skills in my personal growth. Qualities such as leadership, ability to work with all different types of people, time management, cooperative work, adaptability skills, how to win, and how to lose gracefully. Along with my dedication and desire to improve myself I believe college swimming will help me to continue to grow in all these areas.

Lastly, with swimming I have always needed to be on top of things. It is a tough schedule with practice before and after school. I must make sure that I am organized with my time management. Studies are very important to me, and my GPA (4.0) shows that I spend a great amount of time making sure I perform well in the classroom. Especially with taking  5 AP and honor classes. I want to excel in both the pool and outside. Education is very important to me and finding the right school that will challenge me academically is so important to help reach my dreams.

I think it is important to note that I’m not just a swimmer; it’s a big part of what I do, but not who I am. I am the only child in my family of my mother and I. I help my mom every day in her way to adapt to a new country. I work teaching swim lessons during summer. I like being one of the leaders in my class due to all the extracurricular that I am in and having others look to me for direction and for example. I often tutor friends that have some difficulties with their studies and encourage them to improve. I like to have fun, but I also have a serious side and that is usually when it comes to my swimming and my academics. I am excited about going to college and the next chapter in my life journey and know that swimming at the collegiate level will develop me into the strong woman I hope to be.