Taylor Doherty was born to swim.
Taylor Doherty was born to swim.
Doherty was destined for the sport but she was never pushed to find the water by her parents, both who were college swimmers. Instead, she found it on her own, and she excelled at every turn with hard work and dedication for the sport she fell in love with.
That commitment paid off on Wednesday, when the Hawaii Preparatory Academy senior signed her letter of intent to swim for the University of San Diego. She accepted both athletic and academic scholarships.
Doherty looked at several schools, narrowing down her choices to San Diego, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount and Cal Poly. Along with USD, both Cal Poly and Pepperdine offered scholarships.
“I chose the University of San Diego because of its location and after meeting with the coaching staff and teammates on a recruiting trip,” Doherty said. “The campus is incredibly beautiful and it has really good facilities and an outdoor pool.”
Doherty added that she traveled to the school for an official visit in January and knew that if she didn’t go to San Diego she would be heartbroken.
“I was able to sit in on a practice and it is similar to what I do now, but maybe a level up,” Doherty said. “I watched a weight training session and it was an experience to see them lifting in a gym and having fun.”
San Diego is coached by Mike Keeler, who is in his 19th season with the program. Student-athletes under his reign have broken nearly every school record and he has coached 43 conference champions, 95 all-conference selections and 90 conference all-academic honorees.
Doherty is expected to make an immediate impact during her freshman year competing in the mid-distance freestyle events and some backstroke events for the Western Athletic Conference school.
Based on her current swim times Doherty is already fast enough to finish in the top eight of several events, while finishing in the top 3-5 on her team.
“It is really easy with swimming to see where you stack,” Doherty said. “Based on my times I will be able to help the team score.”
Doherty has achieved a lot of success at the high school level. These achievements include more than a dozen league titles and records in individual and relay events, and school records in the 200 and 500 freestyle, and 200 and 400 free relay
She has been a state finalist throughout her high school career and won two individual silver medals at the HHSAA Championships in 2017. She also led her team to two runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017.
Doherty credits a lot of her success in the pool to her high school and club coach, Mark Noetzel.
“I am the same age as his daughter and have pretty much been swimming for him since the beginning,” Doherty said. “He has been grooming us to peak in our senior year and I believe he did that. He has given us the mindset to work hard and stay with the sport and allowed us the opportunity to get times good enough for college.”
On the other end, Noetzel has been able to watch another one of his pupils grow into a college caliber athlete.
“I am very happy she was able to find her dream school and will be a valued member of the program as a student-athlete,” Noetzel said. “She is a fighter with the determination and grit to attack races. That was evident early on.”