Swim and diving into college sports Blazers of note

At age 11, Blair senior Ruby Borzekowski started her career in the world of diving, where she is now a rising star. Although many people conflate diving and swimming into a single sport, diving is a distinct exercise in which competitors perform acrobatic maneuvers off of a diving board in pursuit of the perfect 10 grade. “When I say that I dive… [people say] ‘Oh, yeah, you’re [a] swimmer.’ But it’s just not the same,” Borzekowski explains.

As a member of both Blair’s Swim and Dive Team and Montgomery Dive Team, a club team, Borzekowski’s entire schedule revolves around dive, and she often has to prioritize the sport over her schoolwork. “[I have to] wake up pretty early because we have morning [practice] before school. [I] practice after school from 3:00 to 6:30, and then after that we have another recovery. Then I go home and I don’t do schoolwork. I just go to bed,” Borzekowski says.

As with many sports teams, Borzekowski’s dive team experienced many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We [had to change] our name. We lost the contract to our pool,” Borzekowski recalls. “We were diving in Virginia for a while with [a] random team.”

After the pandemic, the team returned to its old pool, driving many of the divers to appreciate the sport more. The experience motivated Borzekowski to train harder in order to eventually dive collegiately. “It gave me so much more motivation, because I didn’t realize how much I took the sport for granted in the past, and this made me realize that I didn’t have that much longer to get where I wanted, which was diving in college. So I just

By Viveka Sinha Staff Writer

worked a lot harder after,” she says.

Despite the intensive schedule and pandemic setbacks, Borzekowski’s passion for the sport propelled her to eventually sign with a Division 1 school for diving. She will attend the University of Virginia (UVA) next year and pursue her dream of competing at the collegiate level. “I’ve started to realize that as scary as [diving is], I really enjoy the feeling of it. So I don’t want to stop after high school,” she says.

The experience of recruitment, however, was very stressful for the young diver. “It was the worst part of diving. There’s so many standstill points during the recruiting process where… there are no updates… so you [don’t] know what’s going on.”

Before receiving her offer from UVA, Borzekowksi was in correspondence with the diving team at the University of California, Los

Angeles (UCLA). “Over the summer, I thought I committed to UCLA. [But] that fell through, and so I was kind of at a loss for what to do and what the next steps were,” she recounts.

Fortunately, UVA reached out to Borzekowski soon after and she quickly committed. “[The] coach at UVA reached out and we had a couple of calls and [it] felt so comfortable [and] he offered me a spot,” she says. “I didn’t want to wait for a toss up with UCLA, so I chose UVA and I was really happy about it.”

To athletes going through similar stressful experiences, Borzekowski assures that everyone will end up where they want to be. “The advice I really didn’t want to hear last year was ‘you’ll end up where you’re meant to be.’ But it actually is true. With help and putting in the work, you’ll end up where you want to go.”

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN CUMBLIDGE

From the depths of the pool to the heights of academic success, Blair senior Oliver Jackson strives for excellence in all pillars of his life. As one of the captains of the Blair Swim & Dive team, Jackson has swim training for over 20 hours each week. Yet, he still manages to balance his rigorous swimming schedule with his academics and other extracurricular activities. “I definitely have to schedule around my homework and my other activities, [and] if I want to hang out with friends, I have to plan that in advance,” he says. “And obviously, I have to balance out all these different things because I still have academics which are a big priority.”

Even with a demanding schedule that requires over three hours of training per day, Jackson finds joy in swimming. “Even though the sport is pretty difficult, I enjoy the challenge and [everything] that it provides,” he explains.

Jackson’s passion for swimming has led him to pursue it at the collegiate level. “I know that I’m not gonna go to the Olympics after I’m done with college, but I knew that I just wasn’t done yet and that I’m super excited to continue swimming in college,” he shares.

After carefully considering his collegiate swimming options, Jackson ultimately decided to commit to Hamilton College, a Division III school in Clinton, New York. “I just thought I’m going to be more of a threat at the lower level,” he said. “I could go D1 and sit on the bench or… I could go to a D3 [and] maybe break some records [and] get swim time as a freshman.”

A rigorous academic program was also a driving factor that pushed Jackson to choose Hamilton. “[I can] then really focus on the academic components and more of [what] happens after I graduate college,” he explains. Overall, the atmosphere at Hamilton convinced Jackson that this was his school.

“The coach was consistently super kind [and] I already felt like I was part of the team when I went on visits. It was a super great experience and I knew it was the place for me.”

Initially, Jackson felt pressure to consistently perform at a high level in order to impress college coaches, but he ultimately realized it was more important to allow himself to relax and appreciate the journey. “At first, it was really stressful and I… would honestly be more focused on dropping times for the colleges rather than my personal goal to improve. [But] once I started taking it less seriously, it became more fun and I was enjoying the process,” he said.

As Jackson prepares for his college swimming career, he offers advice to those who may be considering a similar path. “Don’t try to go fast for coaches—do it for yourself, and that’s when the doors start to open,” he advises. “If you have the passion for [swimming], it doesn’t matter if you’re fast or slow, you will get [an] offer [and] you’re going to do perfect.”