Junior Payton Dunn Overcomes Injury, Commits to Pepperdine

Payton Dunn, junior, verbally committed to Pepperdine University in Malibu, California for swimming on September 17, a Division 1 school. She is not available to officially sign until she is a senior.

Dunn has been swimming for 11 years, and she always had a passion for it. She had always worked hard ever since she was little, and she finally achieved her dream of swimming in college.

Dunn never had it easy, though. In her freshmen year, she suffered an injury to her arm which prohibited her to swim for most of the high school season. Dunn says, “I was doing 3 practices a day and tore my labrum and had an avulsion fracture due to overuse. In July in the summer of 2016, I had shoulder surgery to repair the injuries and I couldn’t use my arms to swim for 4 months, so I went to practice and kicked for the whole practice. Finally when I could swim again, it took me 3 months to be able to get through a whole practice.” Dunn has not always had everything handed to her- she had to work hard to get where she is today.

On September 13, Dunn and her parents went to California to check out several schools. She did not feel at home at any of them besides Pepperdine. Once she stepped onto the campus of Pepperdine, she immediately saw herself there and already saw it as a home. Dunn describes, “Right when you pull up to the campus, there was the ocean all around and you could see it from every angle. I have always loved the ocean, so seeing that there made me feel even more at home.”

Dunn took a tour of the campus and knew it was the right fit for her. After she took her tour, she met with the head coach of the ladies swimming program, Nick Rodionhoff. Rodionhoff, in Dunn’s description, is a great, humble, Christian guy. He cares more about how the girls are doing as a person, not a swimmer. Although he is very competitive and wants to win, he still wants to make sure the girls are doing good on a personal level.

Overall, Dunn is very excited to be attending Pepperdine in two years and will continue to work hard to be the best she can be.