Hein Prepares For Life After Swimming

Image courtesy of goredbirds.com

NORMAL Ill.- As the swim and dive season is coming to close it’s time senior swimmer Sarah Hein talks about her time here at Illinois State University and her upbringing into swimming.

Every athlete has a story on how they started their sport, yet some of those stories may be crazy and out of the ordinary. It seems that Sarah had some guidance along the way in her start to her swim career.

“So I got into swimming because we had a YMCA in our town and some of my friends joined and they were like oh why don’t you and your brother join and so my brother took it super serious and I kinda was just doing it to make friends and be active and be around the people who made me join then I continued to do it because I kinda looked up to my older brother and so he kinda pushed me to continue with it after all our friends had quit at that point,” Said Hein

Getting recruited to play in college and getting offers from multiple colleges could be a lot for some people. Then being in high school and trying to balance school, sports and being recruited seem to be a big balancing act. Yet it seemed for Sarah, she had a smooth recruitment process.

“My dad really helped guide me in that whole process because my older brother actually went through the process before I did. So he went to Missouri and swam there for four years. My dad kinda had a good grasp on the whole recruiting process. So he helped walk through it and set up the calls and visits with the coaches and obviously in high school you don’t really think of money so much when people are trying to give offers. So he was definitely a huge factor helping me out and getting to where I needed to start the process but it was super fun and something that like I think a lot of people should go through because we meet so many people from different teams and then get to hear the different philosophies of the different coaches your talking to which I felt was super interesting,” said Hein

Most if not all sports teams want to be the best in the respective sport. Teams try to improve every year, yet Improvement is never a guarantee in sports. Yet it seems to be a different case for the Illinois State Swimming and Diving team during Sarah’s four years here.

“I’m very happy and pleased with how myself and the team have improved. Freshman year we placed fifth at the conference meet and this year we got second which is so exciting for our team and for the future of the program but I also think like our team dynamic has changed throughout the years and we’re getting closer and stronger and even like one thing I’ve taken away from this program is like all the great people that have been involved in it and a lot the people I consider my family now and close friends,” Said Hein

Trying to figure out what to do once you’re done playing sports is always a hard task, then playing a collegiate sport and one could only imagine what happens post playing. Come the senior season some struggle to find life once they’re done, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for Sarah.

“So I have currently applied to some graduate programs. Just waiting to hear back from them but I would love to stay in the Bloomington area because it’s such a great community and maybe even help out the swim team if I’m still here because I do think their an amazing program and I think there going somewhere and I want to be a part of it. One thing that I’ve always said when I first came in… I just wanted to make a lasting impression and add something to this program and I hope that I did that in my four years here. I think always giving back and kinda assisting if I’m here. I’m sure they can always use a helping hand but I would love stay in the Bloomington area I love it here,” Said Hein