Senior Kristen Bartlett commits to UCSB to join the school's D1 swim team
By Gwen Warren, Staff Writer
As many seniors are getting ready to apply to colleges, Kristen Bartlett (’21), a swimmer at Samo, has already confirmed her commitment to join the NCAA Division I swim team at UCSB.
Bartlett's excitement to join the college swim team is indescribable and she explains not only the importance of getting accepted at the college, but describes the long hours of her commitment to swim.
“I’m really excited about it since swimming in college was something that was really important to me. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy at swim practice and at meets so I didn't want it to go to waste by not swimming in college. All that hard work had paid off after being accepted to a D1 swim program,” Bartlett said.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, Bartlett was lucky enough to visit UCSB. The college was filled with many opportunities for her, and became a comfortable college for her and her family.
“I immediately felt like UCSB was a place that I could excel and be really happy at since it had the right energy for me and reminded me of Santa Monica. I know that I’ll get homesick and UCSB is the perfect distance because I can come home often but also feel independent,” Bartlett said.
Getting accepted into a Division I college is a ruthless pursuit and requires dedicated years of work. Bartlett began swim lessons at a very young age starting on the local swim team. Over the years Bartlett has evolved into the competitive Samo swimmer she is today. The athlete explains the importance of team leadership with Samo.
“I got to swim with people at completely different levels than normal and I got to develop my leadership skills by helping out more inexperienced swimmers. It was really fun overall and I look forward to high school swim season every year,” Bartlett said.
Swim meets Bartlett has competed in through Samo have also impacted her appreciation for the sport. Her favorite and most successful meet with the school occurred her sophomore year.
“The highest meet I qualified for on the Samo team is states. Some of my favorite moments on the Samo team is when my relay qualified for states in my sophomore year at CIF and when we broke the meet record at South Bay,” Bartlett said.
In spite of current events going on in the world, Bartlett is pumped up for her future as a swimmer.
