Most people think of a pool and see it as a place to have fun in the summer, but when junior Natalie Doig thinks of a pool, she sees it as a place where she can truly be herself.
Swimming has been a long journey for Doig, as she started swimming at a young age and began practicing harder and harder as she got older. But throughout all periods of her life, she never gave up.
“When I was younger, my mom would take me to summer swimming sessions. When I was around 8 years old, I started swimming competitively. By the time I was 12 or 13, that’s when I knew I loved swimming and wanted it to be my main sport,” Doig said.
Not only is Doig on varsity swim, but she also plays golf; she thinks of swimming as her primary sport. She is also a part of Restore Shores, an oyster gardening organization where she raises oysters for water purification in the Indian River Lagoon. Doig is also a proud member of many clubs in school: history club, FCA, secretary for Mu Alpha Theta, NHS (National Honor Society), and NSHS (National Spanish Honor Society).
“I practice six days a week, around 2-3 hours a day, and over the summer we’ll do doubles. I swim for Holy Trinity and my club team at Indian River,” Doig said.
She is constantly practicing to improve her skills and always pushes herself to do her personal best. While she struggles to balance all her clubs, hobbies, social life, and swim practices, Doig tries to time-manage as best she can
“It’s kinda hard for me to balance everything, but I have a lot of friends who swim, so it’s easy to be social there. I normally can’t do much during the week because of schoolwork and swim practice. I try to hang out on the weekends after my Saturday practice,” she said.
Doig is an incredibly hard worker with many accomplishments under her belt, such as being MVP for 5 years on the Holy Trinity Swim Team, placing 8th at the FHSA State Finals, being a Future’s qualifier for USA swimming, and a Future’s finalist, not to mention her countless school records she’s set. Anyone could say they look up to Doig as an athlete, but she also looks up to someone to motivate and inspire her on her club team.
“On my Club Team, there was a girl named Sarah. She graduated last year, but she’s been my role model ever since I joined. She has a great work ethic and is really inspiring in how she works incredibly hard and is always nice to everyone and all the younger kids on the team,” Doig said.
She has had an outstanding season this year, even making it to states with her relay group. One of her favorite memories from this season was being able to swim at states with her 200 free girls’ relay team.
“We warmed up and practiced together and also had dinner together before the big meet. It was a lot more fun this year because I’ve never gotten to go with other people before, it was only me as a swimmer. We’ve come so far since the beginning of the season, team-bonding-wise, and it was an overall great experience,” she said.
Doig sees swimming as essential to her college life in the future. She hopes to continue swimming in college and find a good balance between swimming and academics. She’s still going over her options and the process of finding a good school for her.
Natalie Doig has a strong passion for swimming. An incredibly hard worker and a gifted individual, Doig will be going places in the future for her talent.
“Swimming is a way for me to decompress from the rest of life. When you dive into the water, it’s quiet and peaceful, which is so different from my everyday life. I just love it”.
