JDP senior Taj has his eyes on the prize–he’s training to add an Olympic medal to the giant pile he has already earned.
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Taj attends Baltimore City College High School where he competes as a swimmer. He’s been in the water since he was 8 months old with his dad while mom was taking pictures on the sidelines. He started swimming at about 3 years old and has never looked back.
It was clear early on that Taj had a gift. That gift has been encouraged and nurtured throughout his whole life. At just 7 years old he started competing with the Eagles competitive swim team.
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Currently Taj is a 3x state champion in 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He has just graduated from Baltimore City College High School and will be attending Howard State this fall. He’s training with Howard swim team this summer everyday except for Sunday.
Taj plans to study architecture at Howard and graduated with over a 4.0 weighted GPA. He takes his academics as seriously as his physical training. Whether he’s studying advanced calculus at 9 pm, or in the weight room at 5:00 a.m., or in the pool at 4:00 pm, Taj gives his everything. He has turned his body into a machine that naturally wakes up at 4:45 daily and he is ready to hit the ground running.
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Taj pretty much lives in the water as his practice schedule is several hours daily in the pool combined with weight room and two day a week double shifts. Saturday practice is 6-9 a.m. His love of the water is what compelled him to work as a lifeguard at a community pool in Owings Mills.
Taj lives and breathes for the competition in the water. He loves seeing where he stacks up against his competition and pushing himself on to new records. He’s talked with his coach at Howard about his Olympic aspirations and he’s prepared to help lead him down that path.
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Taj’s dad is the principal of Patterson High School in Baltimore City. It’s clear Taj is tight with both of his parents and it was important to him to include his dad’s Cadillac.
Taj looks like he’s being drafted for the NBA here! He was not hating that!;)
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It’s easy to look at Taj’s incredible musculature and envy a physique like this. However, this was not by accident. It was developed via thousands of hours training in the water, under the water, in the gym and 4:45 wake up calls that became a natural rhythm of life.
This Olympic hopeful represents all that is good and hopeful for our country’s future. His chill demeanor and respectful approach to everyone he encounters is a beautiful mix. His grit and determination will serve him and everyone he loves through this life so well.
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Taj we wish you all the best and cannot wait to cheer you on one day in the summer Olympics!! Go USA!!!
[…] we vision cast idea for her, I shared portraits from the recent swimmer JDP senior Taj. Lily said, “I know Taj! I swim with him! He’s really good!” Always a small […]