Ryan NorrisIt’s 6 a.m. on a Friday morning and Cabrini’s campus echoes with the footsteps and farewell grunts of those lingering students who have partied to their limit and now seek the comfort and respite of their beds. While these students welcome dreams of the previous night’s party, Lauren Walker, junior, awakens ready to challenge the day with the best start she can imagine-swim practice.
One of the junior captains of Cabrini’s swimming team, Walker is ambitious to make this year count. Swimming competitively since the young age of five, Walker was a member of the varsity team at John Carroll High School in Bel Air, Md. Coming to Cabrini as a freshman in 2002, Walker looked forward to swimming for the college and was disappointed to find no team available but merely a swim club. However for the love of the sport she anticipated joining. Unfortunately this did not go to plan.
Walker’s swimming career was threatened in August 2002 when a road accident left her with a broken collar bone, wrist and foot. The accident meant painful physical therapy and a season out of the water. Amazingly these injuries did not deter Walker from the sport she loved so much. “The accident made me more determined than ever to get involved with swimming at Cabrini,” Walker said.
The club was promoted to a team in Walker’s sophomore year and she joined with the strength of mind that resulted in her appointing as junior captain at the beginning of this season. An ambition of hers this year is to create a sense of camaraderie within the team. “In the past the team has not socialized much outside of practice,” Walker said. “I hope this year by becoming closer out of the water we can be a stronger team when in it.”
A personal goal of Walker’s this year is to increase her endurance. Although still affected by injury she hopes her dedication will show in her swimming. On Nov. 6 the team has its first meet at the Dixon Center against Notre Dame of Maryland. Last year a loss to this team has spurred the Cabrini team to aggressively challenge their comeback. Walker hopes that as the team builds, so will the college’s support for them.
“Although the team only competes in Division III, knowing the girls are there on their own free-will and want to be there means more,” Walker said. And on the subject of that early morning practice Walker said, “I don’t mind missing out on Thursday night partying. I’ve become more aware of what matters to your life at college.”
Posted to the web by Ryan Norris
