In Play(er) of the Week, our goal is to highlight outstanding athletes or moments from games that deserve extra attention. 

This past weekend, at the NESCAC Championships, Izzy Paez ’26, a swimmer on the Wesleyan women’s swimming and diving team, set the school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.35 seconds. She earned sixth place in the event, which was the highest finish of any Cardinal at the meet. The Argus recently sat down with Paez to discuss her multilingual upbringing, her pre-swim rituals, and her thoughts on the season.

The Argus: Can you introduce yourself?

Izzy Paez: Hi, I’m Izzy. As of now, I’m potentially going to be an economics and government double major, and I’m interested in the global engagement minor because I’ve grown up speaking [multiple] languages my whole life. I’m from Chappaqua, New York.

A: What languages do you speak?

IP: I grew up speaking French and Spanish. English was actually my third language, which is really weird because obviously I sound like I have just spoken English my whole life. But my mom is French Iranian and my dad is Colombian. They’re both immigrants, and I learned English when I was like five.

A: How did you first get into swimming?

IP: I started swimming on my summer team when I was, I want to say, five or six years old. But not competitively, just for fun every summer. It’s funny, a lot of swimmers will tell you the same reason for why they started swimming, which is that they were a really energetic kid, and they cycled through all the other sports before getting to swimming, and I had the same story. I think because swimming is just such a tiring, rigorous sport, that did it for me. Then, obviously, I had a love for the sport and being in the water and all that.

A: What’s your favorite event to swim and why?

IP: I do the 100 and the 200 butterfly the most. I would say I have a different relationship with both of them, because the 200 butterfly is a really hard, strenuous event. But at the same time, I love it, and I love feeling fulfilled after I’m done with the race. But before I swim it, I’m super anxious and just in my head a little bit. Whereas [with the] 100, there’s less to overthink before you actually jump in the water. But you don’t feel the same sense of fulfillment afterward. So I would say the 200. But it definitely varies during the stage of my season.

A: How did you decide on Wesleyan’s swimming program?

IP: I was looking at all the NESCAC schools, and I think Wesleyan just came down to a lot of things. Since I’m from New York, location was a big thing. I liked the area around the school. I liked the academics more than the other schools in the NESCAC. And also, our team specifically just has a really strong culture, which I was drawn to. 

A: What would you describe the team’s dynamic as?

IP: I would say we’re all very, very supportive of each other and always rooting for each other, and we’re all competitive and pushing each other. But it’s never people not wanting to see their teammates do well. It’s just everyone wanting to push each other and do the best, and then reaping the benefits of the success together.

A: What would you say your favorite part of the sport is? And what would you say the hardest part of it is?

IP: The hardest part is definitely the time commitment and having to wake up three times a week at 5:30 in the morning to swim and then come back and swim for two more hours in the afternoon. Waking up when it was dark outside, and it was cold, and walking all the way from [the Butterfields] with my Cope[enhagen]-mate was really, really hard. That definitely is a mental struggle. But then, at the end of the season, this NESCACs especially, seeing all the hard work pay off was really, really rewarding. Being there with my teammates, feeling the energy on the pool deck, all the teams in the NESCAC were just so motivated and so happy to be there. Everyone was cheering for everyone. And it just felt like a really good finish to the end of a really hard, long season.

A: Coming into this season, what were your expectations personally and for the team?

IP: I was honestly a little bit worried because I had a really good freshman year, and I was really happy with the way I did. And swimming is a very psychological sport. Being a student athlete in general, having a great freshman year can be a little intimidating for your next year, because the sophomore slump is a real thing. I was worried that I would be a little burned out, or I wouldn’t be able to perform as well. But I had to kind of just compartmentalize and try to remember that I was swimming for fun, and then I think I ended up doing well because of that. And then for the team, we had a new coach coming in. I think the energy was really high. We were all motivated to do well. I think that we overall just wanted to move up and place higher in the NESCAC, which we ended up doing at the end of the season. We all swam better at NESCACs. There were a lot of personal best times. I think a lot of people were very happy with their swims.

A: This past weekend, you broke the school record for the 100 fly. Can you talk about what that experience was like for you?

IP: It was honestly such a relief because I felt like it was a long season and I hadn’t seen my training pay off yet. I felt like I just needed one major win at the end of the season. I wasn’t expecting it. I was just going into the race hoping I would do well, and I wasn’t really thinking about what time I would go. Seeing that I had done that was such a great feeling. Also, I know the previous record holder [Amanda McHugh ’22]. She was on my club swimming team, so she actually texted me a day later, and she was like, “I’m so happy that you broke it, of all people. I’m so proud of you.” It was like such a nice moment.

A: What was your favorite memory from the season?

IP: Honestly, just women’s NESCACs as an entire experience. I feel like, although we were together the entire season, that was the biggest bonding moment for our entire team. Just having good vibes the entire time, being proud of your teammates when they were doing well. And a lot of people were doing well. It was just a really wholesome experience. I think we were all really emotional by the end of the meet. 

A: Do you have any pre-swim superstitions before your races?

IP: [There are] certain foods that I have to eat the morning of when I swim. I need to have a BelVita bar. I need to have Pedialyte. I need to have the [Energy GU] thing. And right before I’m on the block, I like to make sure that I don’t go up too early because if I go up too early, then I’m watching everyone before me swimming, and I’m too in their circle of nerves. So I need to be in my own space. I go up pretty late, and then when I’m up there, I stretch my arms out, stretch my legs out, and then I have to take three big, long, deep breaths and then hold my breath for 30 seconds, and then my heart rate goes up, and I’m ready.

Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.