Meet the fifth Warrior in our series!
My name is
Olivia Tokonitz and I am a junior at ESU. I'm majoring in exercise science with a minor in sports psychology & I am on the swim team.
Coming into college swimming during COVID was hard to begin with, however, on top of it my first season as a Warrior, I sustained a shoulder injury that held me back from performing the way I should've been able to. After the season was over, I decided to undergo surgery so I would be able to swim without pain. Little did I know that the recovery would be a full year, which meant missing my sophomore year swim season.
I was still hopeful that I would be able to come back before the entire year of recovery, however, that did not happen. I was able to gradually get back in the pool and swim, however I was not able to compete until my junior year. Swimming is a mental sport to begin with, having to look at the bottom of the pool for hours and having the pressure of doing well everyday but adding an injury to it changes the game.
I gradually started to learn how to cope with my injury that I thought would be career ending. At first, it was very complicated however, through the support of my family and friends I was able to find the good in everything that was going on. I learned to look on the positive side and realize that I was doing better than I did the day prior. I learned to take one day at a time and do the best I could do without comparing myself to others who did not ever face the injury I just overcame.
To this day I still struggle with pushing myself to do my best and not to compare myself to others however I am able to do it better than I ever was when my injury occurred. It's not always about beating the person next to you but it's about improving on your own especially in the sport of swimming.
The pictures provided are from our campus captain's action shots from the past year!
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