Carson Sand is Berkeley bound
Since age six, swimming has been the center of senior Carson Sand’s life. After almost 12 years of commitment, dedication, and, perseverance, in, and out of the pool, Sand will soon begin a new chapter of his athletic career, swimming alongside some of the world’s best swimmers at UC Berkeley.
Sand’s entire family has always had a passion for swimming. His father and lifelong coach, Mark Sand, has continually pushed and motivated Carson Sand to reach the fullest of his potential. “Carson’s success can be attributed to his strong work ethic and unwavering focus in and out of the pool,” said Mark Sand.
Along with the ongoing support of his teammates and family, Sand claims that, “success has kept him going” and “not achieving goals he has set, leaves him hungry for more.”
Success was more than prevalent this high school season, especially at NCS, for Sand placing first in both of his individual events. Sand destroyed his competition in the 200 individual medley, with a finishing time of 1:48.00, only .48 of a second away from breaking the NCS meet record. He then won his 100 breast with a time of 53.50, once again, barely missing the NCS meet record by .11. He now holds this year’s second fastest 100 breast time in the nation for his age group.
Sand was left with mixed emotions after the outcome of his final high school meet. “I was definitely happy with how NCS turned out, but not completely satisfied. Which is good because it keeps me hungry for more next time. My focus was more on the records rather than the wins, which I just missed. But it felt good to give back to CV and get two individual titles, after all the team has done for me these past four years,” he stated.
Sand was extremely proud of his teammates as well, and their performance in the 200 freestyle relay, where the boys placed fourth overall. “The goal this year was just to get in the top eight, so fourth place was really big for us just because relays mean that much more when you’re racing for your teammates, not just yourself,” he said.
Strongly finishing off his high school swimming career, Sand is more than eager to become a bear and begin training alongside his new teammates. Sand states, “It helps to be in an environment with such elite athletes.”
Going to Cal for swimming is a tremendous accomplishment due to the amount of fame their swim team has created. The men’s team alone, has five national championships. Many well known Olympians have also been former bears including, Nathan Adrian, Natalie Coughlin, and Missy Franklin. It is stated that if Cal were a nation at the 2012 Olympics in London, it would have placed third. This goes to show the monstrosity of talent Cal athletes undoubtedly posses.
When asked what he does in order to perform under pressure Sand simply stated, “the only pressure is yourself, if you’re prepared there’s no pressure.” He advises others to just know what you’re going up against and to always enjoy what you’re doing. Sand said his dad has never made him nervous before a race because he has never failed to tell him to just, “go have fun with it.”
Sand’s dedication and attitude has been an ongoing form of motivation to his teammates, as well as fellow swimmers. “The summer of freshman year to the summer of sophomore year was when he really took off. Fast forward a year and a half and he’s committed to Cal. Watching him go fast motivated me to go fast, as did all our other teammates. He still motivates all of us, I think we all motivate each other,” stated senior Anthony Chew, who has been swimming with Sand for the past 11 years.
Sand has greatly enjoyed training alongside his teammates, who push him to strive for better and also add some lightheartedness to the team. “I’ll stop swimming the day I stop having fun with it,” he claims.
As of now, this new chapter has no plan on ending.