Green Hope Swim captain and long-time member of the TAC Titans swim club Nicholas “Nick” Shalhoub (‘26) recently announced his commitment to the College of William & Mary’s swim and dive program. With his high school career coming to an end, Shalhoub credited his parents, coaches and teammates for their support and encouragement on his journey to college athletics.
Although Shalhoub’s journey with swimming began over ten years ago with his local summer swim league, he only recently realized that he was interested in competing in college. “It was pretty back and forth for me,” he said. “I think just as this previous season went along, I realized how much I really liked competing at meets and swimming with a team, and I figured that it’d be a really good idea to try to keep doing that.”
At William & Mary, a mid-major Division I university in Williamsburg, Virginia, Shalhoub plans to major in environmental science while pursuing his athletic career. He shared that his choice of school was greatly influenced by the supportive environment and the encouraging interactions that he had with W&M coaches prior to committing. In his college meets, Shalhoub is set to swim the 200-meter backstroke, the 500-meter freestyle and the 400-meter IM, with his best times in those events to date being 1:46.62, 4:33.09 and 3:56.98, respectively.
Committing to play college sports is the dream of many high school athletes, and for Shalhoub, it’s now a reality. As senior captain of the school team and a leader for multiple years, he shared that his time with Green Hope swim was immensely influential on his athletic career, and said, “High school swim has been extremely fun. A lot of the swimmers here on the high school team, I also train with every day at my year-round team. I already know a lot of them, but just also getting to meet other people from various swim clubs around the area has been cool.”
Shalhoub swims for Triangle Aquatic Center’s club team, frequently traveling and competing in meets alongside his high school swim career. He credited his teammates and thanked them for the supportive environment they created for him in his time at Green Hope. “It’s been a lot of fun getting to represent the school,” he shared. ”I’ve had lots of great times with the team.”
Despite only having coached the Green Hope team for this past season, Coach Bryanna Veroneau described Shalhoub as a “fantastic teammate” and leader-by-example with a “fiery passion for the sport.” She shared that her decision to name him captain was influenced by his positive attitude and leadership qualities, along with his willingness to be an example for his teammates.
College athletics can be a drastic change from high school athletics, but Coach Veroneau predicts that Shalhoub will have no trouble with the transition. “I think he will jump right in and have a positive influence on the William and Mary team as well. I think that he will go in and make an impact as a freshman,” she said. Shalhoub’s effectiveness as a captain indicates that he will have no problem with increased competitiveness in college.
After an incredibly successful high school career, Shalhoub is set to move on and continue impacting his teammates positively at William & Mary. One of his most memorable moments was getting on the podium for the 500-meter freestyle in a meet, and as Coach Veroneau described, “His face when he saw his time, and then when he realized that he had podiumed for the first time in his career, that expression will be a lasting memory.”
Shalhoub recommends keeping academics in close consideration with athletics for prospective collegiate athletes. He noted the importance of time management and how being a student at Green Hope taught him how to plan effectively around a busy athletic schedule.
Wrapping up his time as a Falcon, Shalhoub has made a considerable impact on his swim teammates and his peers. He mentioned how supportive his family was in his journey, always taking him to early practices and staying for late meets, and he noted how thankful he was to have such an amazing support system in his family, friends and coaches. As yet another example of a successful Falcon student-athlete, Shalhoub will exit Green Hope knowing that he made a lasting impact in the pool and out.
