In the Spring issue of E&S magazine, the article "Where Brain Meets Brawn" featured student athletes who have distinguished themselves over the years in a wide array of sports. Here we highlight the more recent and pioneering achievements of swimmer and water polo player, Brittany Percin.
Brittany Percin has had an enviable freshman year, with remarkable performances as both a swimmer and a water polo player.
In February, she became the first female Caltech swimmer in the Institute's history to claim a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title, winning the 200-yard freestyle at the SCIAC Swimming & Diving Championships.
Percin—a Truckee, California native, and recent transplant to Moraga, California—says winning the historic SCIAC title was the result of a lot of hard work. "My whole team has been working hard all year, and Coach [Jack] Leavitt has been really pushing us to be able to compete with the rest of the conference. So winning didn't come out of nowhere. But I am really excited to be able to represent Caltech at the top of the podium."
In May, Percin received a Division III All-America Honorable Mention for her water polo prowess, having scored the second-most goals in Caltech women's water polo history with 52—only four shy of the team record, despite missing the first four games of the season while competing on the swimming & diving team.
"Athletically, I'm enjoying the ride and I'll see where that takes me next season," she says. Her plans over the summer include a preceptorship in neurosurgery, cardiology, and radiology at Huntington Hospital, in preparation for a career in medicine, and training for some open-water swimming races, including the Donner Lake crossing, Lake Tahoe Sharkfest, and the Tiburon Mile in San Francisco Bay.
Percin says she loves being able to compete in swimming and water polo, while still "receiving a world-class education that keeps me challenged. I'm looking forward to another three years of showing the rest of the conference that high-level academics and accomplished athletes are not mutually exclusive."
Written by Jon Nalick