An inspiration to her teammates, Senior Kathryn Hazle has achieved many awards for her exceptional talents as a swimmer. She encourages others to strive to be their best, never backing down from a challenge and remaining dedicated to the sport she loves.

   Hazle started swimming at the age of nine when her friend asked her to join. She quickly fell in love with the sport, and has dedicated herself to improving ever since. “Swimming with Kathryn is a tough challenge because of how skilled she is, but also extremely encouraging. Her passion for the sport and her improvement pushes everyone around her to do their best and be their best,” said Junior Molly Ryan, who has been swimming with Hazle for around five years.

   Hazle has set many records in her years of swimming including placing third in the US Open and fifth place at the Junior Pan Pacific championship for team Canada. “US Open is a meet that many pro, collegiate, and club swimmers attend. At this meet I got third in the 400 meter IM [Individual Medley] behind two world championship medalists,” said Hazle. “The US Open and Pan Pacific meets were really great experiences to get to race in really high level competition. They taught me the importance of having control of my nerves in order to race well,” added Hazle.

   “I think my greatest strengths as a swimmer are my consistency in training and staying dedicated,” said Hazle. Ryan said, “I admire Kathryn’s dedication the most, if anything. She has so much drive for the sport, nothing gets in the way. She is so dedicated to swimming no matter [how long] the drive, the time, or the weather and I respect her so much for her commitment.”

      Hazle has most definitely left an impact on her teammates. “Being on the team with Kathryn is really motivating because she works hard at every practice. I admire how passionate she is about swimming and how her hard work in practice shows when she races,” said Junior Sophia Knowles. “Kathryn has a lot of impact on the team, not just because of how good her times are and how many points she scores but also because she always motivates everyone on the team to keep going,” said Ryan.

   Her team does the same for her, motivating and encouraging each other. “My teammates keep me in the sport, because we are always supporting one another, at meets and in practice,” said Hazle.

   Hazle recalls one of her favorite memories with the team being last year’s CIF win. “Winning CIFs for the second year in a row was amazing because we had such great team spirit and supported one another. Everyone contributed and two of our relays won as well!”

   Hazle is committed to UC Berkeley and will be attending there in the fall to further her education and swim career. Best of luck to her in her final high school season and into college.