On any given day, Cherelle Thompson, a senior on the Swimming and Diving team, can be found in the pool, training and getting ready for her last SEC meets.
However, before she was an athlete for The University of Tennessee, she was living in Trinidad and Tobago, her home country in the south Caribbean, with her three younger sisters and her parents.
It was four years ago that Thompson was one of the fastest sprinters in her home country and named a National Junior Athlete, but it was around 7 years old that swimming beckoned her.
“It was between 6 and 8 – I can’t remember exactly – that I came to the States on a family vacation, and we went to my aunt’s,” Thompson said. “She got us into a summer program, and after that the coaches thought I had a pretty good chance in the sport.”
Thompson said she gradually lost interest in swimming after the age of 9, but her aunt in the United States pushed her to compete in swimming meets, where she excelled and eventually learned to take swimming seriously.
Thompson’s desire to play against the best competition is what led her to the United States, and ultimately to Tennessee.
“In the United States swimming is one of the biggest sports, and the competition is second to none.” Thompson said. “They bring a lot of international students to the United States’ colleges, so it was a way for me to be able to continue doing what I loved and a way for me to continue my education, because at home it wasn’t possible for me to do both of them.”
More than 3,600 miles separate Knoxville and the country of Trinidad and Tobago, but the distance isn’t purely physical – it’s also cultural.
In Trinidad, stopping by someone’s house without invitation is perfectly acceptable and family bonds are always strong, compared to the U.S. where privacy and independence are important values.
Even daily diet is a factor when moving such a long distance away. The Trinidadian staples of mixed rice and potato pie during sit down family meals contrasts the fast-paced American style of eating on the move. Thompson said she does buy her own groceries and cooks her home favorites frequently.
“My transition from Trinidad to college here was a big change because I would describe it as being a big fish in a small pond to a big, huge pond,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s role on the team evolved over time, beginning as a redshirt freshman in the spring of 2012. Over the course of the next three years, Thompson began to showcase her talent as she helped the Lady Volunteers to the SEC meets her sophomore year, along with silver medal at the SEC meets and a trip to the NCAA meets as a junior.
Thompson recalls one of her favorite memories as a swimmer, when she competed in her first NCAA meet and swam side-by-side with the best swimmers across the country. She was in awe as her dream to be alongside the best competition in the world had finally come to fruition.
Now a 2014 All-American and two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, Thompson is entering the last leg of her career.
“Going into my last year being able to represent Tennessee, it’s been an upward journey,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t easy at all when I was a freshman, but overall it has been a very great experience, and I’m appreciative of all that I’ve learned and all that I’ve been afforded by the university, and all I’ve learned from my coaches and fellow athletes.”
