From one country to another, Sofie Sjoberg’s dream of swimming at the next level never wavered.
Born and raised in Sweden, gymnastics was her first sport as she started doing it at a very young age. Sjoberg then started swimming at the age of 12 because her older brother was swimming at the time and she wanted to try it. Both sports were time consuming, so she was forced to choose one, which ultimately ended up being swimming.
“When I decided to quit gymnastics at 15 years old, I knew swimming was what I was going to do for a while,” Sjoberg said.
In Sweden, there are no opportunities to continue swimming at an elite level and at the same time earn an undergraduate bachelor’s degree, you must choose. Sjoberg was not quite ready give up her dream of swimming while getting an education, so she looked at her options. Choosing to go to a school in a different country in order to get the opportunity to swim and get an education was a difficult decision for Sjoberg, because there were so many choices.
Sjoberg looked at many different schools in the United States and narrowed her decision down to a select few. After narrowing down her options, choosing Old Dominion University was an easy decision for Sjoberg.
“When it came down to it, a lot of factors came into play,” Sjoberg said. “Virginia, Norfolk, coach [Carol] Withus, academics, internationals on the team and scholarship opportunities all combined in my decision to choose ODU, which I have not regretted.”
Adapting to a new country is an extraordinarily difficult task to some people, but not for Sjoberg. Having older Swedish friends that had been to the U.S. before helped her understand what to expect.
“I think my plan was to come here and just be me and absorb as much as I could because this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said. “Adjusting to the American culture has not been hard at all, more like easy and inspiring. I will have many great things to bring back home.”
Sjoberg loves to make new friends and is very good at it. “The fact that I am making friends who come from all over the world is incredible,” Sjoberg said.
Sjoberg, a junior, has enjoyed her time so far at ODU. “I have been lucky enough to make lifelong friends,” Sjoberg said. “I have improved my swimming and I am pursuing my dream to become a financial auditor.”
Being away from her friends and family back home has been the hardest thing she has had to deal with while being in the states. However, visits them for a few months every summer, along with her parents coming to visit her, which has made it much easier for her and her family.
Last year, Sjoberg and company, earned a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle relay in the Conference USA championship.
Sjoberg has high expectations this year as the season is underway. “My expectations for this season is to break the school records in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events and achieve a medal in the Conference USA Championships, held in Atlanta, Georgia in February, either individually or in relays,” Sjoberg said.
Already off to a great start, Sjoberg placed first in the 100-meter freestyle, second place in the 50 meter-freestyle and her relay team placed first in the 400-meter freestyle event in a dual meet against UNCW.
Leaving her home country to attend a school in a whole new country that she had never been to before did not seem like the easiest thing to do, but by following her heart and finding the motivation, Sjoberg is living her dream.
“If I can find the courage to move to another country and do this, anyone else can do it,” Sjoberg stated.
By: Yousef Hattar