Hollis Brookline High School senior Mackenzie Talbot has committed Division 1 for swimming at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). Talbot is one of the many talented athletes in the class of ‘25 who committed to college for a sport this year.
Talbot, originally from Chicago, started swimming 11 years ago. When she moved to New Hampshire, she started swimming for the Storm Swim Team, based out of the Greater Nashua YMCA.
Talbot always knew that she wanted to swim in college. “I’ve been doing college tours since I was in 6th grade and always knew I wanted to swim in college but, overall college for me was about getting a good education,” she said.
When last June came around and Talbot hadn’t received any D1 offers, she figured she was going to commit Division 3, until the CCSU coach reached out to her via phone number. “This coach reached out about a year ago with my phone number, wanting to set up a few calls. He ended up inviting me to his school for a recruiting weekend with all of the other girls he has been recruiting from my graduation year,” said Talbot.
Education is extremely important to Talbot, and she never thought that she would be able to commit to D1 because of the major she wants to pursue, nursing. Prior to talking to the CCSU coach, Talbot had been turned down by other D1 schools, such as the University of New Hampshire, because of her time-consuming major.
Unlike other schools, CCSU Coach William Ball goes above and beyond for his athletes to guarantee a successful and happy team. When asked about why CCSU stood out Talbot stated, “He wishes the best for his athletes. He has another athlete in the nursing program and he gets up at 4 am every day to guarantee she doesn’t miss practice.”
Make sure to wish Mackenzie good luck in her next four years at CCSU!
