Current graduate student Veronica Alferez has been a part of the Rowan women’s swimming and diving team since 2017, making her the longest-active member on the squad this season.
Hailing from Elmwood Park, New Jersey, Alferez started her swimming career at six years old when her mother taught her how to swim. Fast-forward to 2017, and she was looking at Rowan University as the place she wanted to continue her swimming career.
“When I came for my recruiting trip, all the girls were really welcoming,” Alferez said. “So I just felt like it was a good fit for me and it was like the perfect distance from my house.”
In her earlier seasons with the Profs, Alferez proved that she could be a dominant and competitive aspect of the Profs’ roster.
As a mid-distance swimmer, she was named to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) All-Conference team for multiple races, like the 400 individual medley (IM) and the 500 freestyle throughout the course of her first few years in Glassboro. In fact, during her rookie season, she was the NJAC Rookie of the Year.
Constantly posting impressive times, even breaking the school record in the 400 IM, helped lead Alferez to be named one of the captains heading into her senior season. However, this was during the 2020 and 2021 season, the one that Rowan, unfortunately, canceled for all fall and winter sporting events.
“[I was] very upset since it was my senior season,” Alferez said. “We didn’t really get to compete, but I think it was good for the team as a whole because we bonded more than if we did actually have a season.”
When this current season rolled around, Alferez decided to stay with the Profs for one more season to get redemption after being unable to compete all last year. Throughout this season, she has been a major part of the Profs and their victories.
Most recently, the Profs defeated The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) for the NJAC Championship. At that meet alone, Alferez came in first in two individual races and was a part of the 400 freestyle relay that set a season-best time. She was also named the NJAC Swimmer of the Week following this performance.
While this wasn’t Alferez’s first time being a part of an NJAC Championship team, as the Profs have won this title every season since her freshman year, this win was different from all the other times.
“In the other championships, we were always the top seed,” Alferez said. “This one, we went in as underdogs. So it was like everyone as a whole, the whole team had to really show grit and get their hand on the wall first and it just really showed how much hard work we put into the season like being underdogs. And then coming out on top.”
At this point in her career, Alferez has won four NJAC Championships and three Metropolitan Swimming Conference Championships (METS). Due to the fact she is a graduate student, this is likely her last year in the pool as a Prof. While she can’t add any more NJAC titles to her resume, she can help Rowan grab one more METS title before the season closes.
When it comes to Alferez’s post-collegiate-swim-career plan, she doesn’t exactly know what is next.
“So I earned my Masters in Business Administration with a focus in human resources,” Alferez said. “So I hope to get into something like that.”
Alferez, along with the rest of Rowan women’s swimming & diving, will compete in one final home meet this season when they face the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, Feb. 5.
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