There’s someone making big a splash in the Santa Clarita Valley. Alyssa Hamilton has been swimming since she was just three years old. From there she knew what life’s goal was going to be, but something happened to the dream.
“I definitely had goals of going collegiately,” Hamilton said. “Towards the end of my senior year, I was pretty set on what school I was going to go to and swim for but I didn’t want to be tied to money and I was getting really burnt out on the sport, so I stopped.”
But that pause was only momentary. She committed to Colorado State where she continued her passion. But another bump popped in the road.
“I’m really close with my family so being away from my family was really hard and the weather is really what took me back home,” Hamilton said.
She returned home and enrolled here at COC and found her way back to the water. Her coach Sean Kakumu guided her to swim the extra mile.
“Having Coach Sean challenge me every single day that I’m here is definitely what I needed,” Hamilton said. “So I’m coming into practice with the expectation that I’m going to be challenged.”
Her practice and hard work paid off, especially when she hit the biggest pool of state competition just recently. Kakumu couldn’t have been more proud of her accomplishments.
“It’s great to see them come in at the beginning of the season figuring out the sport and then finishing on top,” Kakumi said. “It’s fantastic, just seeing that progression and them succeeding. It’s great.”
Then Kakumu broke the news to Alyssa of being the number one female swimmer in Cougar history.
“I’m just kind of in shock,” Hamilton said after finding out. “It’s really cool though. I’m glad to leave my mark on Cougar swimming.”
