Steve Cowling, a fifth-year senior from Somerset, England, said his earliest days at N.C. State offered a steep learning curve.
“I basically didn’t have any recruiting trip here,” Cowling said. “I was basically thrown into a deep end.”
But after adjusting to his new home, Cowling has won an ACC championship in the 100-yard backstroke.
Additionally, he has swum with some of his best friends — Cullen Jones and Dan Velez, both seniors a season ago. Velez and Jones have both still trained some on campus this season.
Cowling said it was helpful to him to still have Velez around.
“Luckily for me, I still have that support, as being the lone senior I needed it,” Cowling said.
And because of the time he has spent in the United States, he said he might decide to stay in the country after completing college.
“I’ve grown accustomed to life here, and as I’ve liked it so much, the chances of me living here probably increased,” Cowling said. “With me living in England, I never thought about it before.”
Cowling is scheduled to complete coursework for his degree during the summer.
But he said he wants to take those final classes online as he starts working toward his commercial airline pilot’s license.
He said swimming has “clouded” his dream of flying for a little while, but that he will be able to return to his childhood dream soon.