After countless practices and exhilarating meets, Portola High’s varsity swim seniors prepare to dive into the next chapter of their swim careers as college-bound athletes. This year, seniors Tiffany Kim, Brian Nguyen, and Renee Tan, along with other graduating swim seniors, are set to continue their athletic paths in college.
For Nguyen, reaching the collegiate swim level reflects years of personal growth and devotion. Nguyen was first introduced to swimming at the age of nine, and joined the Portola swim team during his junior year, coming to develop a close bond with his teammates.
“My parents just put me in swim to make sure I knew how to swim in case [of] any emergencies,” Nguyen said. “It just kind of took off from there, and I got better and better, and we just decided to pursue it more.”
Nguyen, committed to the University of the Pacific, plans to major in biological sciences on the pre-dental track while continuing his swim career, aiming to improve his swim times. Nguyen said the strong team dynamic at Pacific greatly influenced his decision to commit.
“I think what stood out about Pacific was that they were really big about the team, and they’ll help you as much as they can,” Nguyen said. “Each individual is geared towards helping the team, but they push you really hard in practice.”
Meanwhile, Tan signed with Rice University, majoring in psychology and minoring in bioscience. She was drawn to Rice’s strong academics, location near her church and family, and mid-major Division I swim program, where she hopes to make a positive impact on her college swim team.
“[I want] to have the most fun that I possibly can, and also to continue to try to be the light in people’s lives,” Tan said. “I hope that I can bring a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of joy to the Rice swimming team.”
On the East Coast, Kim committed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in bioengineering. Kim was drawn to MIT through the wide variety of classes—During her visit, she was able to glimpse into students’ lives in classes, on campus and working in labs.
“I visited a lot of other colleges too, but MIT felt like the best of both worlds,” Kim said. “It was an opportunity to study at an incredibly high [level of] academic rigor and also swim at a really high level with some super amazing people.”
However, each individual’s recruiting process presented its own set of challenges. For Kim, the biggest obstacle was managing communication with multiple colleges simultaneously, but after overcoming that, Kim expresses excitement for the chapter ahead.
“I’m really excited to meet new people and see the world,” Kim said, “I think Irvine is definitely a bubble, growing up here my whole life. I think college is a whole new world, especially going all the way to the East Coast.”
