Ben Cooke-Akaiwa '13 Recruiting Profile

            My name is Ben Cooke-Akaiwa and I have been in the water most of my life.  I just completed my third year of high school varsity swimming and have been swimming competitively for seven years with the Counsilman Center Indiana Swim Team (CCiST).  I am 5’ 8” and weigh 165 pounds. 

            I swim with an elite group of guys.  Bloomington High School South only had 14 varsity swimmers this year and yet we have come in first in both conference and sectionals the past four years, and second at State the past two.  I have been on the sectionals team all three years.  My club, CCiST, is based on the techniques and philosophy of the legendary swim coach, Doc Counsilman, and all of my coaches (even at the high school level) have been kinesiologists based out of Indiana University. 

            I would love to swim in college.  I believe my times, technique, and skill set could really be beneficial to any college or university, but I think I will have the most impact in a DIII school.    School size and location are not as important to me as being in the right program both athletically and academically. 

            Figuring out how to afford college is also important to me.  Qualifying for student loans will be difficult for my family and I have two siblings who are also in high school.  If I could get scholarship money to ease the burden off my parents’ shoulders, that would be great.

            I would like to attend a college with a solid academic program.  I am a good student and was recently elected to the National Honor Society.  I am interested in biology or kinesiology as possible majors, but am also looking for a school with a good art program.  I hope to minor in studio art.

            Besides school and swimming, I have spent the past three summers biking across country.  DeCycles is a local group that takes 60 student riders on a three week roughly 1500-mile bike trip.  We pedal every last mile, up mountains and down, through good weather and bad.  It is grueling and makes my swim practices look easy.

            In 2009, my first year, we rode an 1800-mile loop through the Appalachian Mountains with an average of 90 miles a day.  It was an amazing experience and I walked away 11 pounds lighter and a whole lot tougher.  That year my sectional’s name was actually “This one time on deCycles…” because I couldn’t stop talking about my experience.  The following year we did a 1700-mile ride from Seattle to LA, taking the inland route.  The weather was more of a challenge than the terrain. 

             Last year we rode to New York City and up the eastern seaboard to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of 9/11.   I was made a group leader for this trip, a real challenge.  Each day I was in charge of a small group of riders.  So whatever went wrong or right, it was my responsibility.  Being a group leader was tough, but I learned a lot about myself and how to be a leader.  This coming summer I will be riding from San Francisco to Bloomington, IN, more than a 2500-mile journey and I expect to be a group leader once again. 

             While I may not be the fastest swimmer on my team, I am known as the “go to” guy whenever a race needs to be covered.  That being said, I normally swim the 200 IM and 500 free.  I hope you will find my experiences interesting and give me a chance on your team.