ACHIEVEMENT: Lauren Bywater, a model of success, is accepted to her dream school.
By Jack Weggeland, Staff Writer
As long as she could remember, varsity girls’ water polo co-captain Lauren Bywater (12) has always dreamed of attending one of the world’s leading educational institutions, Stanford University.
At the age of nine, Bywater followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Jacqueline Bywater, and challenged herself to play and compete in the intense sport of water polo. Her initial love, passion and drive for the game have translated to her unimaginable success eight years later. “Her commitment to her sport, teammates and her work ethic are what make her such a great water polo player,” Mike Cardey, head coach for both the girls’ and boys’ teams, stated. “She has always been a leader for the team,” Cardey added.
Her dominance in the pool and superb leadership were evident as she finished her junior-year season, leading the bears with 127 goals, 77 steals. These outstanding characteristics and the unteachable talent behind them piqued the interest of collegiate women’s water polo coaches around the nation.
Heading into her senior season, Bywater had multiple recruitment scholarships from top-tier athletic and academic universities, but one stood out: Stanford.
After years of early 5:30 A.M. conditioning practices and long, grueling workouts after school, hard work, dedication, drive and willingness to win led her to success in accomplishing her dream. Thursday, November 5, 2015, Bywater received a call during lunch from the Stanford women’s water polo head coach John Tanner. Bearing good news, Tanner modestly informed Bywater of her acceptance to the university saying, “Hey, how are you?” before adding, “Well, you are going to be a lot better after you hear this!” Full of emotions, Bywater burst into tears of joy and immediately notified close friends, family members and important coaches.
Bywater dedicated her past, present and future achievements to her main mentors who supported her decisions and were present every step of the way. “My family made all of my dreams possible by believing in me and taking every measure to help me succeed, and, of course, my coaches, every one of them [has] helped mold me into the player I am,” Bywater said.