“USC Unsung Heroes” is a column by Anthony Bottino that talks about elite USC athletes who aren’t on one of the school’s Division 1 teams.
USC has produced countless Olympians, some from the past, some from the present and more to come in the future. From track to water polo, USC’s Division I athletic programs boast Olympians throughout. There is, however, one Olympian swimmer who stands apart from the rest and is not on the D-1 team.
Noelani Day, a 20-year-old junior studying human biology, is a world-class and determined swimmer. She brings the same passion and dedication to her schoolwork on her path to becoming a physical therapist.
Day is an international student from the island of Tonga, a small South Pacific island in the Coral Sea, located about 3,000 miles off the coast of Australia. Up until college, Day lived in Tonga her whole life, and her upbringing differs from that of most at USC.
“Tonga is a really small island where everyone knows everyone,” Day said. “So I was surrounded by family all the time. I grew up in a really small village where everyone is related.”
This different lifestyle also brought about unique approaches to swim training. Since Tonga is a small island without swimming pools or an actual swim team, Day had to adopt alternative methods. When she was eight, a volunteer from Australian Aid came to Tonga and formed a group of kids interested in swimming. She would take them off the island for lessons but left after only two months. Other volunteers came and went, but the program eventually ended. Afterward, Day’s mother took charge.
In her quest to continue training, Day’s mother discovered scholarships for swim camps around the world. Day received multiple scholarships to attend camps in countries such as Japan, China, Thailand and Fiji. These camps played a significant role in honing her skills to compete at an elite level; however, this constituted only about 10% of her training regimen. The remaining 90% consisted of training in the ocean back home in Tonga, setting her training process apart from that of her competitors.
“My competitors have pools, coaches, access to everything and that intimidated me a lot when I was young,” Day said. “I grew up doing dives on a rock, and I was lucky to do dives because it had to be high tide. I learned how to do flip turns on coral walls. Things like that you have to train double for and on your own.”
The unconventional training paid off, and Day saw significant success, preparing to take her talents to the next level. From the moment Day discovered the Olympics, she was determined to compete at the pinnacle of all sports. Not only that, but she wanted to represent her country like no one before.
Day may not be the first Tongan swimmer in the Olympics, but she is the island’s first homegrown swimmer. In Tonga, when athletes reach the next level, they often leave the island to train and live elsewhere. This was not the case for Day. While she gained experience in camps and training outside of Tonga, her primary training involved ocean swims on the island, providing her with a historic opportunity to be the first Tonga-based Olympic Swimmer.
When the qualifications for the Tokyo Olympics came around, Day was not going to let years of hard work go to waste. After dedicating years of her life to Olympic training, she was finally given her chance to qualify. In Tonga and other small islands, Olympic qualification is determined by a universality spot. This spot is given to the fastest male and female athletes in the country. Day had to outperform everyone who was training overseas, and that’s precisely what she did.
“It didn’t really hit me at first,” Day said. “I was happy, but it was like, ‘I finally did it.’ I was happy for myself but for everyone who helped me, especially my mom. I was thinking about back home how I was the first homegrown swimmer to make it; we’ve only had people from elsewhere make it.”
Day was confident that she would one day make it to the Olympics, and she never lost sight of where she came from and who helped her along the way. She takes great pride in this, and everything she does represents her family and home. Her pride is shown within her and literally on her.
Day has two highly significant tattoos. The first is the iconic Olympic rings, symbolizing her proudest achievement and marking her as a world-class athlete. The second is a traditional Polynesian tattoo on her back, created specifically in honor of her grandmother, who was like a mother to her and played an extremely important role in her life. These tattoos serve as constant reminders of who and what she’s doing all of this for. Being far from Tonga, they help her stay connected to her roots.
Despite all her training overseas and in the ocean, as well as her journey to the Tokyo Olympics, it might seem like Day had no time for academics. However, that’s not the case at all, as she takes her studies as seriously as she takes swimming. Her commitment to academics is what eventually brought her to USC.
“I googled top physical therapy schools in America, and USC came up and the deadline was in two weeks,” Day said. “I had no idea how applying to school in the U.S. even worked, I didn’t think I would get in but then I did.”
At the time, Day didn’t even realize what it meant to get into USC, especially with a major like human biology. Initially, the prospect of coming to the U.S. for school while still pursuing her swimming career seemed daunting. However, with support from her family, she made the courageous decision to attend USC. As a human biology major studying to become a physical therapist, she faces a rigorous workload. Combined with her swimming commitments, it’s a lot to handle, but Day has managed to figure it out.
“Back home, I was training and took every opportunity I could to leave the island, so I was gone for months at a time,” Day said. “I was already used to self-studying, figuring things out and managing my schedule. If I have time I go to the gym in the morning, I train with club swim, and I generally just train when I can in the Lyon Center.”
Day is full of confidence and is an amazing athlete, but she decided not to join D-1 the team.
“I actually had no idea that we even had a swim team until I got here,” Day said. “I had no idea that sports existed on this scale. What people don’t understand is that this is a whole other level, and I come from a very different background. Balancing that with school and family obligations is a lot. It’s time for me to devote myself to school and to my family.”
Day has already accomplished her life dream of representing Tonga in the Olympics and now she is focused on the next goal: becoming a physical therapist. While pursuing her degree, she is still able to compete with club swim and in her National Federation. Life has significantly changed for Day since the last Olympics, though she still has her sights set on Paris. But this time, with a different perspective.
“If it happens for me, it happens and that would be great, but I didn’t want to devote all my time to that,” Day said. “I have other priorities that have taken over.”
Day’s next competition is in late November for her regional games. With Paris 2024 in mind, she is still focused on becoming an Olympian and a physical therapist. Noelani Day has a lot going on in her life, but despite it all, she has never forgotten her roots and everything she does is for her family and home, Tonga.
“USC Unsung Heroes” runs every other Monday.