By Tessa Nacke
As the starting gun sounds, junior Kaitlyn Nguyen dives into the icy water with grace. She pulls ahead of her competition with fluid underwater kicks and strong starting strokes.
Nguyen started swimming when she was 4 years old, taking lessons at a small pool. As she fell in love with the sport, she continued with summer league at the Greenbrook Aquatics program for two years.
“The Greenbrook coach saw potential in me, so I started competitively swimming at Riptide Swim Club from 10-12 years old,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen currently swims at Novaquatics, a swim program known for their large number of college recruits and overall amazing swimmers. Nguyen also is on the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) swim team, and is a two-time girls varsity Most Valuable Player (MVP). She also won first place in California International Federation (CIF) for 100 breastroke in her freshman and sophomore year
Nguyen’s myriad of awards pale in comparison to her most recent award of receiving two Olympic Trial cuts last summer. The Olympic Trials are competitions held to select the United States’ participants at the Olympic Games.
“[My Olympic Trial cuts were] actually at the USC pool, which was really cool. I plan to go to the Olympic Trials this June in Indianapolis,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen’s power and presence in the water caught the attention of many different college recruiters, such as Notre Dame, Michigan, Northwestern and Harvard.
However, with Nguyen’s outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments, it is no surprise that she was recruited by the University of Southern California (USC).
“I chose USC because I felt like I belonged the most there, and I loved the team and coaches,” Nguyen said.
With a newfound sense of belonging, Nguyen has decided to verbally commit to USC. Although a verbal commitment may not seem like a big deal, Nguyen noted on her increased confidence after committing.
“My parents are my inspiration because they’re really hard working and sacrifice a lot for me,” Nguyen said.
With the support of her parents and her swim team, Nguyen plans to pursue something in business at USC and swim all four years.
“Something I would say to other swimmers is to not stress about the process, because it’s supposed to be fun and not rushed,” Nguyen said, “and sometimes it just takes time to find what school you belong to.”
