Swimming is more than a sport, you have to be pretty tough to do it.
If you disagree, talk to Pace senior Caroline Page, who on Wednesday signed a swimming scholarship to attend Florida State University in the fall of 2013.
Page has faced a lot of adversity as a high school swimmer as she has undergone five surgeries, yet she doesn't stop.
"I have been swimming since I was seven years old," Page said. "There were days when I didn't want to swim, but when I was out of the pool after a surgery I couldn't stand to be out of the water."
During her four years at Pace, Page has undergone two shoulder surgeries and three eye surgeries.
"The shoulder surgeries were to have my shoulder tightened and after the first one it took a little time, but then came undone," Page said. "The coaches at Florida State heard that and told me that is what they are looking for in a swimmer, someone who can come back in the face of adversity."
While she has proven her toughness Page has proven her leadership by being a swim captain the last three seasons.
But don't expect her to get so teary-eyed when her parents, Spencer and Susan Page, drop her off in Tallahassee.
"I will be waving bye," Page said as she was doing her best tomahawk chop, which is the traditional wave of the Seminoles fans. "I don't think I will get teary-eyed like my brother."
Caroline is referring to her brother, Cody, who plays football at Millsaps College in Mississippi and just finished his sophomore season with the Majors.
"It is nice to have all the pressure off of me," said Page, who is a 100-meter backstroke specialist. "Some have told me swimming is not a sport, but I want to let people know it most definitely is."
While opting to sign a scholarship with Florida State, there were several suitors calling for Page such as South Carolina, Louisiana State, East Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisville to name a few, but FSU had something special for Page.
"Florida State has a degree in what I want to major in, exercise science," Page said. "When I went there for junior day I looked around and saw the weight room and training facility and that really sold me.
"I even got to swim a few laps in their pool and it was really fast."
The interesting thing about the swimming facilities at Florida State is it actually was first set up in China for a World Championship meet.
"What they do is take them apart and then places bid for them," Page said. "I had never heard about it before but it was very interesting.
"They brought the pool here and set it up. It is just an amazing facility."
While Caroline and Cody will both be in college soon, their parents did get a little bit of a break with how the seasons fall in college.
"Cody will play in the fall and Caroline will be swimming more during the spring and winter so we will get to see them both as much as we can," said Susan Page.
The ironic part for Caroline is her father is a Florida graduate and fan, while her mother is a graduate from Purdue.
"I think it won't be too hard to make the switch," Spencer Page said after the signing. "I already have a Florida State hat."
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Page ready to make splash in Tallahassee