Maria Saldivar

Women's Swimming & Diving November 09, 2020 Cassandra Hatcher, NAU Athletic Communications

Inspired by Family, Maddy Rey Shares Love For Swimming and ROTC

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 9, 2020) – Coming all the way from Illinois to Northern Arizona, Maddy Rey found her new home in both NAU's swimming and diving and ROTC programs.

From the early age of four years old, Rey found her passion for her sport, transitioning from swimming through the summers to year-round with a club team. Standing out by taking on another organization, Rey joined junior ROTC in high school noting her great grandpa as her inspiration.

"My great grandfather served in the Korean Conflict and WWII in the Army, he inspired me to go into that and try something new, and it ended up being one of the best decisions I've made" Rey said.

Choosing an athletics program that would support her commitment to ROTC was the most important decision in Rey's search for the perfect school.

"I chose NAU for a multitude of reasons, but it really came down to the ROTC captain, my swim and dive coach (Andy Johns) and the entire swim and dive program being completely supportive of me doing both," Rey said. "It's not common for a student-athlete to also be in the ROTC program so after talking to Coach Andy and hearing him say how awesome it is and how supportive he was, I knew this would be the most amazing opportunity."

As anyone can imagine, time management has to be important for a student-athlete who is also devoting time to the university's ROTC program. Rey found herself learning quickly as a freshman that she has to prioritize and stay on top of her commitments and schoolwork as a psychology major with an emphasis in neuroscience. As her days are usually full, she shares what a week can look like in her shoes and how she keeps going.

"If I've learned anything as a freshman, it is how to manage my time, and I'm still learning every day," Rey said. "I have an ROTC leadership lab once a week for two hours and an ROTC class for an hour and fifteen. I train roughly 19 hours a week for swimming, and then you throw in academics. My first couple of weeks it was hard to keep my eye on the light at the end of the tunnel, but I was able to find a happy medium and remind myself why I'm doing all this."

Rey was the two-time recipient of the Best Attitude award as well as Hardest Worker on her high school swim team. She notes that her attitude and perspective have always been important to her and brings that along with her here at NAU.
One of her goals is to be able to contribute to each of her teammates and cadets and help them grow just as much as they are helping her grow. Rey attributes her well acknowledged hard work and good outlook on life to her mother.

"I give mostly all my credit to my mom, she has taught me how to always focus on the end goal. At the end of the day, I've been blessed with an amazing detachment, an amazing team, an amazing academic opportunity and I know if I just keep a good attitude I can enjoy it while it's here. My mom always told me to wake up in the morning and say that I get to do something, not I have to do something," Rey said. "It's all about perspective for me."

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Players Mentioned

Maddy Rey: Distance Free/Fly; 5' 4"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Maddy Rey
: 5' 4"; Freshman
: Distance Free/Fly