Chloe Gonzalez ’25 has been swimming for 15 years — an impressive feat for the senior captain of the Brandeis women’s swim and dive team. She grew up in Miami, Florida and graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School before continuing her swimming career at Brandeis, primarily competing in the butterfly and freestyle events. 

This past weekend competing at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Gonzalez triumphed in two events, taking the 100-yard freestyle in 54.33 seconds and the 200 free in 1:58.64. Last weekend at Vassar College, she won the 200 freestyle by more than three seconds with a nearly identical time of 1:58.62. Gonzalez also won by nearly two seconds in the 200 butterfly at Vassar with a time of 2:23.21.

Gonzalez’s go-getter attitude has kept her grounded in a growth mindset. She believes that “there is always something to work towards,” and is certainly wasting no time this season chasing down her goals. Her ultimate “personal goal is getting the 100 freestyle record,” which she “missed by 0.1 seconds last year.” The current record, set by Ema Rennie ’22, sits at 52.80. Last season at the University Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships, Gonzalez set a personal record of 52.91 in the 100 free — missing out on making finals by only a third of a second. As of now, she has her sights set on shaving off time throughout the season to peak at the UAA conference championship in the spring.

Gonzalez stands by the fact that “after any goal is achieved, there is always another higher goal … to reach for.” Motivated first and foremost by her family, and secondly by her own competitiveness, she stays disciplined in order to “push … past [her] limits.” 

But even Gonzalez admits sometimes she needs a little extra push — she thanks her coaches, Nicole and Nick, “for always believing in [her] and pushing [her], especially at times where [she] had a hard time believing in [herself].”

As she has learned how to harness her own competitiveness and turn it into confidence, Gonzalez has a fitting mantra: “You are capable of more than you think.”

She already has many wins behind her, including being a part of four record-setting Brandeis relay teams. Gonzalez and her teammates have the current all-time school records in the 200 meter free relay, the 400 meter free relay, the 800 meter free relay and the 400 meter medley relay. She cites these accomplishments with her teammates as her proudest accomplishment at Brandeis so far. 

In swimming competitions, relays showcase the best of a team as four swimmers combine individual talent and prowess to work together toward collective victory. It is a balance of trust in one’s fellow team members and confidence in personal ability. In Gonzalez’s words, a “team is a group of people that support and push each other even in the toughest times.” Both in relays and individual events, the Brandeis swimming and diving team “celebrates each other’s accomplishments and work[s] together to achieve success.” 

Building on success and staying hungry for more, Gonzalez and the Brandeis swim team head to Bentley University this Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m., where Gonzalez will probably be listening to her favorite hype-up song: “SAY MY GRACE” by Offset and Travis Scott.