Janie Richards '22 Recruiting Profile

To me, one of the hardest parts about racing is when you are so close to A finals and you have to push harder than you ever had imagined. At regionals in Federal Way Wa 2019, that was me in the 200 backstroke. I wasn’t quite in the top eight but I definitely did not want to place as an alternate. My mom has always been my biggest supporter and she turned to me and said “Janie, if you really want to win this you can'', I thought she was out of her mind. Prelims went well, I placed into lane two. Now, I was more nervous than I think I had ever felt for a race. Between the girl seated in lane one and the girl seated in lane eight, there was a two second time difference. First place was for who wanted it the most. When I touched the wall afterwards, I just wanted to go home and take a nap but hearing my name get called was so exciting and all of my energy came rushing back. I will never forget how hard that race was mentaly, how hard I had to work to push myself to reach my goals. 

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved being in the water. I joined my first club team when I was about nine. My family lived in the Seattle area at the time. Less than a year after joining my club team, we moved to Spokane Wa. Moving was very different for me and I struggled with staying committed to swim. I felt like I wasn’t getting any better, and that I was never going to reach my goals. Although I wanted to quit, I ended up staying with it. In fall of 2019, I reached one of my bigger goals of breaking the minute in my 100 backstroke. Swimming has been a challenge for me but it has taught me to stick with your goals and how hard work can pay off.