Nathan Henderson

Q: “What was your favorite moment from the swim team?”

A: “I think my favorite moment from the swim team was all the quality time I spent with my teammates and the bonds that were created by the end of the season. The Christianburg meets were always my favorites because they were a long drive so we would have to get up really early and we’d end up getting home late so then we got to eat dinner together too. The pool was also really nice just because it was big so you could have a lot of swimmers in at once.”

Q: “What was your first swim meet like?”

A: “There were kids from all over the area and everyone was super nice, it was a really good environment to surround yourself in. I can’t remember where my first meet was but the pool was massive and it made me want to keep coming to meets. I’ve been swimming almost all my life but my first meet I didn’t do well. [I still] had fun and everyone was super nice so it was a pleasant experience. 

Q: “What made you want to switch to swimming from wrestling sophomore year?”

A: “I overused my growth plate in my right elbow and it got enlarged and it injured the nerves in my right arm so I decided to stop wrestling. I settled with swimming because my brother swam in high school and I had a lot of friends on the team. The injury from wrestling didn’t really affect my main sport, [tennis] though.”

Q: “Did you look up to any older members on the team?”

A: “I’d say I looked up to Ritt Culbreth the most. He’s older than me, had multiple college acceptances and had a very successful high school career and he seemed like a fun person to be around which is what I want to do- be successful and have fun along the way.”

Q: “What did you learn from this past year in swimming?”

A: “I learned that some activities are meant to be for fun and I don’t have to be the best at my sport to enjoy what I’m doing. I wrote one of my UVA supplemental essays about my competitiveness and the psychology behind winning and I talked about how I went from one sport to a completely different one. Sometimes it’s more fun to be bad at something you really enjoy than be competitive at something you don’t.”