One College Student-Athlete Shares the Impact of Her Team
Written by: Kaitlyn Crouthamel, public relations major
On the day of my high school graduation, I cried.
Unlike many of my classmates, these were not tears of joy. I wasn’t excited to escape the clutches of my
parents. I didn’t want to put Cape May County in the rearview mirror. While the idea thrilled most others
my age, I dreaded the day when I would eventually leave home.
Like many other new college students, I was very homesick at the beginning of the semester. There were a lot of big adjustments to be made, from sharing a room to being away from my family. However, in the midst of so many changes, there was one thing that remained constant: swimming.
I have been a competitive swimmer since I was ten years old. The club that I grew up swimming for is very small. To put things into perspective, I was the only high school-aged girl on the team during my senior year. Oftentimes, I had to travel to meets alone with my family and coach. While I wouldn’t trade the time at my club for the world, I always wished that I would one day get to experience a “big team” atmosphere.
My first few weeks as a Rowan swimmer came with many lessons. I learned how to use all kinds of swim
equipment, such as resistance cords and a snorkel. I was taught how to properly power-clean, deadlift, and squat. I even learned how to do a new type of dive for relays. While all of these things are undeniably
important, Rowan Swimming taught me something even more significant: what it means to be a part of a
family.
During my first meet as a Prof, I swam the 200 breaststroke. Every time I turned to push off of the wall and onto the next lap, I saw a group of my teammates cheering me on. I remember thinking to myself, “this is really awesome”. As the season went on, I realized that my days of being lonely at meets were
long gone. I knew that when I stepped up onto the blocks, I wasn’t only swimming for myself, but for the entire team that stood behind me.
No matter how rough things got, I could always count on my team to bring a crazy amount of energy and positivity. If I had a bad race, I would still be greeted with a swarm of high-fives afterward. During the most grueling practices, we blasted Black Eyed Peas and sang along in between sets. Even though the weather on our training trip to Florida was rather gloomy, we didn’t let it stop us from going into the ocean.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I was truly a happy athlete.
The pressures that I had put on myself as a club swimmer were slowly alleviated. As I prepared for a race,
the paralyzing nerves I would feel during my high school years no longer overtook me. The feeling of
falling back in love with your sport is indescribable, but Rowan Swimming allowed me to experience it.
If only the crying high school graduate knew what was coming her way.
Edited by: Jordyn Dauter, senior double major in dance & elementary education