This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at St Olaf chapter.
Meet St. Olaf’s one and only senior, female swimmer, Ellie Levy!
Hometown: Minnetonka, Minnesota
Sport/Position: Swimming- Butterfly
Favorite music to work out to: uhhhh N/A
Best sports memories: 1. Getting my first age group state cut in the 50 free when I was 11. 2. One time I was at a meet, and I really didn’t want to swim the 400 IM. Right before my event they found poop in the pool and the rest of the events that day got cancelled! Still to this day I’m really thankful for the kid that decided to poop in the pool.
Favorite part of playing on a college sports team: My favorite part of competing on a college sports team is the relationships I’ve made with my teammates. We spend A LOT of time together, both in and out of the pool, and we are all really close. We all help each other succeed in the pool as both teammates and as friendly competitiors. The high level of energy my teammates bring the practice is easy to feed off of in the middle of a hard set and makes practices far more enjoyable. Being constantly surrounded by supportive teammates who share the same passions and goals as me is very motivational.
Inspirational athlete?: A lot of my inspiration comes from my sister Sophie. Some of my best swimming-related memories have been watching her compete. Watching her be successful in the water not only brings me a lot of joy, but it reminds me why I love this sport. It inspires me to be persistent.
Any pregame rituals or superstitions?: This is really weird, but I’m really paranoid about my goggles falling off during a race, so I spend the minute leading up to my race adjusting my goggles on my head. Even when I’m on the block I keep adjusting them until the last possible second. Other than that, before I race I always check out the competition to see how much bigger they are than me.
Favorite food after a hard practice: Omelets and bacon
Other extracurriculars or activities you’re involved in on campus: I’m president of Supporting Special Needs (SSN). We volunteer at Laura Baker Services in town. In the off season I mentor middle school students through Reaching Our Goals (ROG) and the TORCH program.
Any sports-related advice?: How you react to failure is really important, especially in team sports where your attitude affects everyone else on the team. Failure can be devastating, especially at big competitions. Be aware of how your reaction to failure might affect the rest of the team. My best teammates are able to minimize their reaction to failure and stay positive throughout the rest of the competition for the betterment of the team. Learn from your failures and use them to motivate yourself.
You can catch Ellie dominating at the swim team’s next home meet on Friday, November 14th!
Photos provided by Ellie