Claire Collins ’15 was recently featured in Deerfield Academy’s LEAD program because she a great leader and role model. In this Alumni Spotlight feature, we will share some of the many reasons Deerfield is proud of Claire!
Claire played several sports growing up, including soccer, basketball, and lacrosse before deciding to focus on swimming as a 10-year-old. Although swimming was her passion heading to Deerfield, she started to row and cultivated an amazing career for the Doors as tri-Varsity athlete all four years and Tri-Varsity Captain (volleyball, swimming, rowing)! Ultimately, Claire was recruited by Princeton to row and study Economics following her Deerfield days. Claire continued with drive to become a team captain, 3-time All-American, 4-time Ivy-League champion, and winner of the Von Keinbusch award for Princeton’s Top Senior Female Athlete. While at Princeton (2016-19), the Varsity Eight won four Ivy League Championships and finished fifth in the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships (2018).
In addition, Claire’s dedication to rowing compelled her to compete and win medals for team USA as a Junior, U23 National Team member, and full National Team member, including the honor of competing in several World Rowing Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Claire is an avid supporter of multi-sport participation saying that, “Multi-sport participation is beneficial physically and mentally for athletes, even through high school. Playing many sports allows you to physically use different muscle groups and keep your body more versatile, which helps with an injury. Mentally, it is healthy to mix it up and have kids focus on different activities. They can groove in new motor skills and practice how to approach competition in different sports, for example, a race vs a game. Playing multiple sports helps relieve pressure if they have a “main” sport.”
Claire believes sports can teach us many lessons, one of the main being humility. If kids are playing multiple sports, odds are they won’t be #1 at them all. Learning to support and lift up others, as well as play different roles on a team, can help kids grow and mature. Check out more on Claire’s views regarding youth sports at positivecoach.org!