Junior National Champion Maija Roses from SwimMAC Carolina has verbally committed to swim for Cal beginning in the fall of 2014.
Roses was this summer’s USA Swimming National Champion in the 200 long course meter breaststroke with a 2:31.77, and is also on the Junior National Team with a second entry in the 100 breaststroke, where she was a 1:09.5 this summer in meters.
“For me, the decision came down to how comfortable I felt with the team, coaches, academics and campus,” Roses said of her decision.
In yards, Roses has been 1:01.8 and 2:13.1 in the 100 and 200 yard breaststrokes, and is also a strong IM’er with yards bests of 2:02.83 and 4:19.91.
A few months ago, the Cal women’s future seemed a little meek in the breaststrokes.
But now, junior Yvette Kong is swimming very well, they added a surprise signing from World Championship finalist Marina Garcia of Spain, and they’ve gotten this commitment from Roses to really turn that group around in a hurry.
Roses has a really incredible story. After having hip surgery in the summer of 2012, Roses says she considered leaving swimming forever. Within a year, though, she was a Junior National champion and is fully engaged and refocused on the sport.
DDG would prefer Maya spelling..wink, wink, wink… only one person I know around here (bay area) has that type of sarcasm! Ha ha!
That’s funny DDG, but I didn’t mean foreign as out of CA but rather out of the country, i.e., Marina Garcia. I am very excited for Maija BTW, I went to Cal!!! I did chuckle at your comment, however!
During McKeever’s trail of tears quest for a breaststroker, she spent a lot of time in North Carolina, Oklahoma, and the Dakotas. Teri even offered Pocahontas $24 and some beads, but that didn’t offset in-state tuition at UVa, Maija (kinda funny spelling-may need to check her birth certificate) will flourish in Berkeley. Fog, foo foo pizza, and earthquakes kick the crap out of humidity, hush puppies, and hurricanes. Plus California always wins the wars we fight in.
Excellent!!!! I was a little bummed when Heidi Poppe went to the Tree’s but now with Maija and Taylor Young, things are looking up for Cal B-stroke!! I don’t count the foreign swimmers, sorry, but I’m old school and cheer only for our native kids. Congrats to Maija!!! You will be awesome!!! can’t wait to see you hook horns with miss Poppe across the bay… should be some stellar battles!!!
for those not familiar with the backstory on this young woman, read the article the one references. hers is one of those heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity that make swimming such a great sport. I think coaches should learn story and keep it in their toolbox of motivational tales for the athletes