Jori Leszczynski 
Ohio State - Swimming - 1992-95 

I was a recruited, non-scholarship woman's swimmer at the Ohio State University. I made a very deliberate choice to swim at a major Division-I school in the Big Ten Conference because I wanted to challenge myself against the best. I knew that most of my teammates had much more impressive resumes than I probably ever would, but I felt that it was the right place for me to really stretch myself.

Being a student-athlete at a school like Ohio State taught me more about hard work, discipline, multitasking, responsibility, friendship and the importance of being on a team than I would have learned had I gone to a school where I would have been the best walking in the door.

I learned a lot about myself and what was important to me. I spent three years waking at the crack of dawn and taking huge loads of classes. When I competed in the Big Ten Championships in 1995, I had the best swim meet of my entire career, making NCAA B-standards. To follow this up, my teammates honored me with the Most Improved Swimmer award that year. I ended up graduating that spring with honors, after only three years of college to pursue my other dream of becoming a veterinarian. I was sad not to compete for four full years, but realized that I needed to pursue my academic dreams as intensely as I had pursued my athletic ones.

I would have never been able to accomplish my goals in swimming and in academics if it had not been for the support of everyone at Ohio State, including my teammates, coaches, athletic counselors, the athletic department, donors, professors and other students.
    

Big Ten 25 Years of Women's Championships

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