Junior Sam Cuzick has been competitively swimming since she was in third grade, totaling nine years. She opened up about a situation she experienced during her freshman year.
Cuzick had sprained her wrist before a swim meet, but due to her commitment to the sport, she still competed in the meet. “I was signed up for a 200 freestyle relay and was about to finish while leading with my left hand,” Cuzick said. “Instead of switching to my right hand, I pushed off the wall with my left hand. I could hear my wrist pop.” Cuzick goes on to explain that if she had done otherwise, “it would’ve messed up [her] whole team.”
After that incident, her coach wouldn’t allow her to play at meets until districts because of her injury. She explained that she didn’t have the chance to practice by going to meets and had to go straight to districts. As a freshman, it was scary to have little to no experience and go straight into a big event. If she had been a year or two older the situation would’ve been different because she would have some past seasons’ experience. This incident doesn’t affect her much anymore as a junior, but it’s definitely a story to remember.