By Hunter Haskett, Editor-in-Chief
Seven-year-old Cecilia Cortez dives into the pool at her very first swim meet with visible excitement. So much excitement, in fact, that she completely disregards the whistle commands telling her when to get in and out of the pool. Bounding up to her mom, all she can say is, “I can’t wait to do it again!” — not even caring that she has been disqualified from her first race.
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine Cortez ever being disqualified from an event. The senior is an accomplished swimmer, placing second in the 100 backstroke in the 2018 NCHSAA state championships and reaching the finals at the Junior National Championship Cup in both the backstroke and butterfly.
Her latest success? Becoming the newest member of NCAA Division III Johns Hopkins University’s swim team. Friends and family gathered to congratulate her at the celebratory signing ceremony held on Monday, Jan. 14.
“I’m really excited,” Cortez said. “It’s a big weight lifted off my shoulders just to know where I’m going and it’s really great to know that all of the hard work has paid off.”
Collegiate swimming has been the goal for Cortez since the very beginning.
“I really wanted to see how I would be able to perform in a more formal swimming environment because the way I’ve been swimming now is pretty unconventional,” she said. “I’ve been through a lot of coaches and the pool that we swim in isn’t the best and I thought it would be interesting to see if I improve or how much I improve in college.”
Despite the multiple coaching changes, Cortez hasn’t let that distract her from perfecting her strokes. She is respected by coaches and teammates for her work ethic.
“I think I learn more from her than she learns from me, actually,” OBX Family YMCA Tidal Waves coach Chelsea Larson said. “Whenever she’s at practice, she levels up the whole team — everybody practices on another level.”
Knowing that their daughter has always aspired to reach the next level in swimming, Cecilia’s parents are proud that she chose a school that will support both her academic and athletic endeavors.
“Cecilia has put in a lot of hard work and time and effort, doing it by herself and doing it with the coaches,” Laura Cortez said. “I’m just happy it all paid off for her. I’m just happy that she’s chosen a great school and I’m happy that she’s going to be happy where she is.”
She’s come a long way from that little girl who didn’t understand the whistle commands: Cortez has perfected the 100 fly and the 100 back, challenging events she’ll be swimming for Hopkins.
Choosing the prestigious research institution in Baltimore, though, was part of a long recruiting process that took her on a lot of college visits.
“I really found the whole recruiting trips to be very overwhelming, to just be thrown in with the team for two days and having to do everything with them and having to learn all of these names,” Cortez said.
In the end, the friendly team and wonderful coaching staff at Hopkins made it an easy decision despite the senior’s other recruiting trips to NYU, Columbia and the University of Chicago.
“I immediately vibed with the team, and the coaches were really amazing and I could just tell that we all had the same mindset,” she said.
Hopkins also is a good fit academically for the STEM-oriented senior who wants to major in cellular and molecular biology.
The research university is a big change for a beach kid, but Cortez is excited for her new experience as both a college student and athlete.
“I’m excited for everything. It’s going to be nice to be in a new environment with new people and get away from the beach lifestyle,” Cecilia said.
Senior Hunter Haskett can be reached at hasketthu0318@daretolearn.org.
