Eileen Blood is only a freshman at Manhattan College and although she hasn’t been a Jasper for too long, she’s already making big waves on the Manhattan Swimming and Diving team.
A New Jersey native, Blood came to Manhattan in the fall because she loved the city and she knew Manhattan would be a great school to study business and accounting.
Her favorite part about attending Manhattan College is the smallness of the school and the closeness of the city. She finds the small class sizes very beneficial and rewarding.
Blood, or Young Blood as her teammates like to call her, has been swimming for a little over a decade. Both her parents having been swimmers, it was only natural that she followed in their footsteps.
She has three siblings, all of whom she is very close with. She’s especially close with her brother, Brendan, whom she swam with back at home.
Swimming has always been a passion for Blood.
“The thing I love about swimming is what it has taught me. I can take some of the things I do when I swim and apply them to real life. Like never giving up no matter how much it hurts or morals, as much as swimming is an individual sport you still are apart of something bigger than yourself”.
Blood not only brings in fast times, but her positive energy puts a smile on everyone’s faces. She is always cheering on her fellow teammates and never fails to congratulate everyone on their races.
Manhattan’s record for the 1000-yard freestyle is an 11:08.91. Blood’s best time this season was an 11:11.65. With the MAAC Championship coming up in just a few weeks, her chances of beating that record are very high.
One of Blood’s goals coming into her first season was breaking one of the records and getting her name up on that record board. Her coach, Joe Murtha, foresees her having a very good meet at MAAC’s in Buffalo.
Although Eileen’s career at Manhattan has only just begun, she has already proven that she is a force to be reckoned with. We should expect to see great things coming from this girl in the next four years at Manhattan College.