For many athletes, freshman year is spent developing your game to become an impact player for your team in the future. For Julie Abrigonde, the time to impact the pool is now. The freshman swimmer recently broke the Pacific record held for the Women’s 300 medley relay with an opening leg of 1:02.14. “It felt great” says Abrigonde, “I wasn’t expecting to break the record, but as soon as I dove in I wanted it”.
Finishing third overall in the Northwest Conference Pentathlon, Abrigonde felt the support from her teammates and coaches throughout the weekend. “My teammates were super excited for me and felt I could break the record” says the Reno, Nevada native, “My coach was also happy, but we both know I have a lot to work on to improve for the rest of the season”. Abrigonde commends her teammates, saying “we have a really great team environment and everyone around is super supportive”.
Although it was her first race, Abrigonde knows this result puts pressure and expectations on her for the rest of the season. “There are expectations to reach, but all I can do is focus on training and go after every race.” The freshman plans to live up to the hype, for she “wants to break more records” and ultimately qualify for futures on the national level of swimming.
While individual success is on Abrigonde’s mind, she is more focused on the swim team as a whole, and moving up in the conference standings. “We want to score high in the conference” says Abrigonde. She believes “the team is getting faster, and that will lead to more recruits”.
“Overall, we want to improve each year as a team and be recognized around campus” says the swimmer who races for the people around her and hopes to make them proud.
Continuing to put up results like at the NWC Pentathlon, Julie Abrigonde will have no problem not only being recognized at Pacific, but in the Northwest Conference and beyond.
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