SPORTS ARUSHI ARORA page editor/writer
SENIOR ATHLE Beginning his diving career nine years ago, senior Raphael Tourette will be joining the Division 1 Swimming at Diving team at Harvard College. Inspired by his brother’s decision to commit to Harvard for fencing in 2017, Tourette began to take his own steps toward an athletic career in the NCAA. Said Tourette, “I had no idea that I would be going to Harvard as well, this just opened my eyes to the possibility of diving in the NCAA. Knowing that being chosen to join a division 1 sports team is extremely difficult and competitive, I began to take my sport a lot more seriously.” Weighing several factors before committing to Harvard, said Tourette, “I had visited the school 3 times prior to committing to visit my brother, and I fell in love with the campus and atmosphere. There’s no arguing that it is objectively one of the top schools in the country, but there was a lot more that drew me into this school than just that [...] the swimming & diving team and coaches are a group of immensely uplifting and kind people who instantly made me feel like part of their family upon the start of the recruiting process.” Said Tourette, “I am overjoyed to be able to attend a university where I can pursue my biggest athletic and academic dreams. I cannot wait to compete for this incredible school with such talented and driven teammates.”
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From finding her passion in the water at the age of six to getting her first National Record at the age of ten, Mia Tandingan is ready to make strides as she looks to further her swim career at the Division I swim team at Bringham Young University. Having to make a difficult decision between BYU and her other offers, Tandingan considered several factors through her recruiting process before finally making her decision. Said Tandingan, “The college recruiting process for swimming began on June 15th during the summer of sophomore year and I had several college coaches reach out to me. After going on an official campus visit, BYU stuck out to me the most. The school offered many beneficial programs to my major and the support system is well-rounded for both academics and athletics [...] I was convinced that BYU is the right fit for me!” After the school joined the Big 12 Conference last September, Tandingan is thrilled to be a future student-athelete at BYU. Said Tandingan, “I’m excited that my teammates and I have the opportunity to compete against other higher level schools [...] I’m looking forward to meeting new people, making more memories with new friends, and exploring what Utah has to offer!” Every athlete has a different recruiting experience. For Vithiyashankar “TV” Thulasinthan, a football commit to San Jose City College, the college recruitment process was one rife with twists and complications. Said Thulasinthan “Cupertino High School isn’t a prestigious school in terms of athletics and especially football, we pretty much get no recruits to our games, and even when we had a historic season we didn’t get any recognition even from our own school. It’s hard to get recruited from a small school in terms of athletics. The second reason is my height [...] I am considered short for my position and being short while also being from a small school turned away a lot of recruits.” Despite the setbacks, his perseverance paid off. Said Thulasinthan, “I received many offers from prestigious universities for football and some I even wanted to attend but a major barrier was the living cost and personal reasons. So when I was at a crossroads at where I wanted to go, San Jose City College came to me and told me that they were extremely interested in me and pretty much offered the world to me.” On top of this, Thulasinthan has also broken barriers with his football career. He will be the first Sri Lankan football player ever at San Jose City College.
