ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For University of Michigan water polo freshman Grace Harbaugh, being in the water has been a large part of her life since she was young.
“When I was in fifth grade I started surfing,” Harbaugh, a Coronado, Calif., native, explained. “Where I grew up, Coronado, there is a big surfing community. Generations of families live there and as soon as kids can walk, you put them on a board. I got into it and immediately loved it.”
Harbaugh credits her surfing coach, the late Coronado legend Stan Searfus, for cultivating her love for surfing. After some time, though, Harbaugh eventually ditched competitive surfing for a new water sport: water polo. She said that she wanted surfing to be an outlet for her to just let loose and that she wanted to save her more competitive side for water polo.
Harbaugh started playing water polo in seventh grade. She said that she wanted to switch to a sport that involved more strategy and was more team-oriented than surfing or swimming. She loved it right away and knew she wanted to try to play at Michigan.
She attended the Wolverine Water Polo camp in eighth grade, and that solidified her interest in Michigan — she wanted to be like the older girls that were helping to teach the camp.
“I saw the older girls and that’s what I wanted to become,” she said. “They seemed so different than anyone that I had met that played water polo. Kim Graziano and Ali Thomason, they helped me so much in the water and I wanted to do everything that they did.”
She said that the camp inspired her to work hard throughout high school. The hard work paid off; during her sophomore year, head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi came out to one of her games.
“I will never forget looking into the stands and seeing the block M,” she said. “That was the moment where communication started between coaches. Then I went on my official visit in October and I committed the day I got home.”
Since getting to campus, Harbaugh has been working on adjusting to college with the rest of the freshman class.
“I think our class is really special in that as soon as we met, we all connected,” she said. “I think that’s really unique with such a big class. Having this unit behind you — a group of people that support you — made transitioning from high school to college much easier. We don’t really know what we’re doing at times, but we are all there for each other.”
A piece of Grace Harbaugh’s art
Out of the water, Harbaugh enjoys spending her time making art. She works mainly with portraiture and other 2D forms of art, and has her grandmother to thank for her love of art.
“My grandma gave me a paint set and a crayon set when I was little and I sat at the kitchen table and drew every day,” she recalled. “That’s when I fell in love with it.”
Harbaugh is interested in the intersection between fine arts and psychology. She is considering pursuing art therapy, which she calls “an organic and creative way to express how you’re feeling without having to put something into words.” Whether or not she pursues that route remains to be seen, but she definitely wants to pursue something related to art once her time in the pool is finished.
Until then, though, Harbaugh wants to make the most of her time at Michigan and her time with the water polo team.
“Being a part of something that’s bigger than yourself gives you a purpose and meaning, and I wanted to find a college that had that,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what I’ve found here.”
Release courtesy University of Michigan Athletics Communications
