Family–a group of people who love, support, and care for each other in the hardest of times… and FAMILY is what Rose Bowl is to me.

At Rose Bowl, the main idea that has been drilled into our heads, year after year, is TEAM. The TEAM is what makes you faster, stronger, and better. The TEAM picks you up when you fall down and helps you start sprinting again. The TEAM is my family.

Over the past seven years at the Rose Bowl, I have met the people who I will stay friends with for years after graduation. They have left lasting impressions that I will never forget. From their kindness, silliness, and work ethic, each individual has shown me a new part of the Rose Bowl family.

However, I did not start swimming to make the friends that I have made. I started swimming because of my love for the sport. My love for the adrenaline rushes and the loud screams at the end of races. I swim because it makes me, me. It shows me my limits and opens up my mind to what my true capability is.

But, my career and my love for the sport would not have lasted without the amazing support group I have standing behind me everyday I am at the Rose Bowl. For two hours everyday, I have at least twenty people pushing me, not only physically, but mentally too. Each person, even if they do not see it, push me to become a faster swimmer. My teammates show me what potential I have and what type of swimmer I can become.

Their talent, personalities, and hustle everyday keeps me shooting for the stars. My team, the Rose Bowl Aquatics, is what I call a family.