How I've Continued to Push My Limits Even After My Swimming Career Ended

I was practically a baby when my parents put me in the water for the first time, and even then, I couldn't get enough of the pool. By the time I was just six years old, I won my first swimming competition.

Flash forward a decade, and I was swimming under the guidance of Dick Shoulberg,a legendary coach at a private school across the state from my hometown in Pennsylvania, on a really competitive team in a very competitive environment. That's when I competed for the U.S. Junior National Team, earning my first spot on the National Team, and eventually decided to swim competitively at the University of Georgia.

There, I was pushing off the wall with Olympic gold medalists to my left and right, winning national championships, and becoming an All-American swimmer. But by the end of sophomore year, I had suffered a torn rotator cuff, a massive injury that was difficult to recover from. I continued to swim on the collegiate level for the next two years, but the injury really derailed a lot of the big-dream plans I had for my career, including making it to the Olympics. I feel like I wasn't able to ever fully reach my potential in the sport.

By my fifth and final year of college, I officially retired from my swim career and spent the next year running half- and full-marathons and taking Spin classes, but I had an itch to do more. I missed the feeling of competition.

So, I signed up to do a half Ironman with my mom, a lifelong triathlete. The race was on her bucket list, and I wanted to go big from the start. As it turned out, I was really good at it. When I crossed the finish line I was ecstatic — I felt like I gave my best effort on that day, but I also got excited because I felt that I could do more, both in terms of speed and distance. I felt like I could go faster.

A year and a half later, I've already completed a full-Ironman and am growing more and more committed to the sport every day. I always prioritize devoting time to my workouts, even though I'm studying for a doctorate in biostatistics. That means I wake up at 4:30 or 5 every morning and go to bed at 9:30 p.m. to make sure I'm getting enough sleep.

The training is what I really enjoy — seeing improvements in myself day by day and noticing new strength. I love that feeling of being in the middle of a run or a bike workout, breathing hard and feeling the pain but also just pushing through it and overcoming it. That's what it's all about. I'm always looking for ways to test myself. I don't do it to torture myself. I actually just really enjoy it — just seeing how far I can push my limits.