Kellie Stevens/ Class of 2004/ Champaign Centennial
Last November, Kellie Stevens signed a letter of intent to swim at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for Head Coach Sue Novitsky. Kellie swam for Champaign Centennial, was All-State 4 years in high school, and is a member of the National Honor Society. In addition, Kelly has been swimming with the Aquachiefs since age 6.

1) Are you excited about college next year? What are you looking forward to the most? What do you plan to major in?
I'm very excited about college next year. I'm really looking forward to meeting new people and just living on my own (as most 18 year olds are). Also I'm really excited about being part of college athletics, especially in the Big Ten. I think that is a huge honor. I am going into the College of Business, but am undecided as to exactly what major I will choose.

2) What events will you likely swim in college?
I think I'll mostly do long distance events like the 500, 1000, and 1650.

3) What is the recruiting process like for college swimming? We hear about the intensity of recruiting for college football and basketball. Is recruiting for college swimming more low key? When did you first start hearing from coaches and programs?
I think you can make the recruiting process as intense as you want it to be. If you make a lot of effort to contact coaches yourself then you will likely get a strong response, depending on your ability of course. I've been getting letters from colleges since my freshman year, but coaches aren't allowed to call until the summer before your senior year.

4) When did you first start thinking about college swimming? What did you do to learn more about the various programs and coaches? Did you attend summer swim camps? How did you select your college?
I think that I've always just assumed that I would swim in college throughout my swimming career. I started looking at colleges I thought might interest me online my junior year, and just looked at all the things that colleges had sent me. You can also email the coaches if you have any questions. Last year I went to "Junior Day" at the U of I where some swimmers were shown around and introduced to the program there. Then, in October I took my official visit there and I really liked it and thought it was a really good fit so I decided pretty soon after that.

5) What�s been your biggest swimming thrill?
I think just competing at High School State and Y-Nationals has been so exciting and so much fun each year.

Something you might not know about Kellie: She has played the harp since age 10.