’16
JESSICA WEITZ Record Breaker | Pacesetter | Fierce Competitor
Jessica Weitz ’16 became the first female swimmer from Porter-Gaud to sign an athletic scholarship with a Division 1 school when she signed her letter of intent to swim for Tulane. This is her story of how failure inspired greatness. Jessica first dove into the pool at age 6 swimming for the Country Club of Charleston. By the sixth grade, she joined the Porter-Gaud team. She also tried cheerleading and volleyball, but says they just weren’t right for her. When she was the only player cut from basketball tryouts in the eighth grade, Jessica was devastated. But failure would not define her. Fate stepped in. “A fellow PG student, Chris Malanuk, encouraged me to swim for LTP in Mt. Pleasant. I was hesitant to even try year-round swimming. It’s so intense. I tried it and hated it, but I stuck with it,” says Jessica. Jessica admits she has always had a love-hate relationship with swimming, but it’s what drives her. “It’s grueling. The long hours in the pool - by yourself - looking at the same black line on the bottom is tough. But when you get the breaks in between laps, and your teammates make you laugh, you push off the wall and you keep going.” With her teammates and her steadfast determination, Jessica went from being the slowest on the LTP team to the one of the fastest. At the same time, the PG team was growing stronger. That growth wasn’t happenstance. Jessica’s love for swimming was driving it, and it will be her legacy at Porter-Gaud.
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“I went to the fifth-grade girls and boys and told them, ‘We need you. I need you.’ We got a lot of girls and they were good. I just love them. They look at me in a way that says ‘I want to be you’ - and that makes me push myself to be better.” This October, for the first time in Porter-Gaud history, the girls’ team won the state championship. Jessica was overwhelmed with emotion. “I cried so much before the meet was even over. We put in so many hours in the pool and we really pushed each other as a team. More than the win itself, I was looking around at all these girls thinking we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves.” In addition to the team win, Jessica set three state records in the 200yard relay, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard backstroke. At Signing Day at Porter-Gaud, against a Tulane University banner and green balloons, Jessica signed her Division 1 athletic scholarship surrounded by her parents, Jon and Lisa, brother, Jonathan, coaches, and teammates. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. “My mom saw my potential when I was 6, and my dad was a swim dad,“ says Jessica. “He was there for 5:00 a.m. practice, away meets, sending text messages encouraging me to hydrate, stay focused, and always give one more push. ‘One more push’ became my mantra - it got me here, they got me here. I am forever grateful to everyone who believed in my dream. “When I put on the Tulane team suit and cap and walk into the pool with my team for the first time, it will be surreal. When I was in middle school, I don’t think anyone ever saw me getting to where I am right now. I made it. I am a Division 1 student-athlete. “