Sara Andrews - Women's Swimming & Diving

Sara Andrews is a senior captain on the Carnegie Mellon women’s swimming and diving team. Sara is pursuing a double-major in statistics and decision science and will graduate in May.

Being an athlete at Carnegie Mellon has been a very rewarding experience. I came from a high school team that really wasn’t very serious and I never participated on a club team as most people had. It was therefore a big shock to me when I arrived here. I really didn’t have much experience with being on a competitive team where weights and morning practices were a major part of the normal practice schedule. I also wasn’t prepared for the amount of amazing talent that surrounded me. Even with all of these things, I managed to find my spot on the team and make it on to the 200-freestyle relay that broke the school record. Since then, I have been part of every relay record and broke the 100-breaststroke record as well.
    
Getting to this point has not been easy. CMU provides an incredibly challenging academic environment where being a student comes far before being an athlete. Therefore, I think one of the greatest reasons for my success here at CMU is the support that I get from my teammates and coaches. From day one, my teammates have made me feel at home here and have helped me grow as an individual.

I remember on the first day of college a bunch of the people on the team came to my room to help me unpack and then later, had a barbeque to welcome all of the new freshmen. I believe that without this support, it would have been difficult to get adjusted as well as I did, especially when we still had tryouts (luckily we don’t have them anymore!). All-in-all, I think it’s extremely important to have teammates and coaches that support you, especially in the rigorous environment of Carnegie Mellon.

There are so many unforgettable memories that I have made while being a student-athlete here at CMU. I honestly can’t see myself doing college again without swimming. Every time I try and do this, I envision myself sitting in my dorm room doing nothing but twiddling my thumbs. It has been the place where I have found some of my greatest friends, it has been my greatest stress reliever and it has been the place that has allowed me to grow as an individual and leader.