Elysia Pompa '14 Recruiting Profile

NOTE: *There are no off seasons or down time, I'm a competitor who is not looking to just swim for the next four years but to contribute and swim to my full potential.*

My upward hill has been a struggle that I accepted long ago. No one said life would be easy and I believe that to be very true. Challenges have always presented themselves in my life already and I expect they always will. I just decided that I would look at them as opportunities for me to “strengthen my character”. Overcoming them or moving on despite them just reminds me that I am stronger than I think.  

Early in my homeschooled life, my parents felt that a sport would be a good thing for me to get involved in and so chose swimming. Although I loved it and took to the water like a fish, regrettably right from the start I struggled with bad kicking feet. They just would not point naturally. In spite of that, I still continued to find all the effort I could muster up. After 4 years of USA year round competitive swimming, my swim coaches felt this would keep me from excelling competitively as a swimmer. Despite those negative voices, with a lot of work and many hours of training, I am happy to say they were wrong.  Today I am an accomplished swimmer who enjoys the sport and even its challenges.

In my life, I have always been the kid that had to study extra hard for a good grades because again nothing came easy. I truly believe this has been a contributing factor to the determined mindset I have today. The fear of not being smart enough or fast enough has been a driving force in wanting to be prepared for what lies ahead.

My wish has always been to swim for a college, so the years I have spent preparing myself, both academically and in the sport, were the best decisions I have made. When I graduate, my goal is to swim with a college swim team and give them the same commitment and hard work that I always have. My career goal is to major in the sports medical field. One day, I hope to be able to help other athletes like myself who may need medical attention and encouragement to do their best.