LOOK: Avia Zunic from Letran's swimming team is a stunner on and off the pool
“Vivacious, confident, and determined.”
This is how Avia Zunic - a member of the swimming team of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran - would like to describe herself.
The 20-year-old swimmer is of Croatian-Italian and Filipino descent and has always been at home in the water even at a very young age.
“Ever since I was a baby, I was always fond of the water and I knew it was my element. I would throw myself out to the pool even though I did not know how to swim, not even my parents could get me out of the pool so they just decided to buy me floaters at a young age and made me do my thing,” recalled Avia.
Photo by: avia.sahara (IG)
“I can say that the best thing about swimming is that it's an individual sport.
“But that doesn't mean you have to work alone and just depend on yourself because even if it's an individual sport, you definitely need your coaches and teammates to help you grow and be the best version of yourself not only as a swimmer but also as a person,” she added.
For Season 96 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Avia will be joined by fellow Letran women swimmers Joy Manase, Jelly Paningbatan, Kristiana Yvone Sampang, and Alyssa Jeremay Santos.
Avia studied high school at San Beda University in Manila before moving to Letran where she is currently a third-year college student taking BS Psychology.
“I love the closeness of my team despite the diversity.
"Many of my teammates came from different provinces and being the only foreigner in my team, you would expect me to be out of place but that did not happen at all,” Avia said about her fellow swimmers.
“My teammates and I have a very special bond; we would eat lunches together, wait for each other to finish our classes so that we could go practice together, and literally just one call away.
“We are like brothers and sisters who care and look out for each other.”
Photo by: avia.sahara (IG)
As for her game day essentials, Avia, who competes in the backstroke event, mentions “water, music, and noise-canceling headphones” and adding “these are all I need to set the mood and calm myself on the ready bench.”
What's the best thing about being a student-athlete?
“It disciplines me,” she mused.
“It makes me the best version of myself even without realizing it. It makes me a leader, a sister, a friend, a role model.”
Athlete of many talents
When not in training or competing, Avia likes to indulge in her hobbies like painting and arts and crafts.
Avia also knows how to figure skate and loves to eat pizza, pasta, and her lola's sinigang.
“She makes the best sinigang,” Avia said proudly of her grandmother's specialty.
Avia cited forensic and crime psychologist as her dream job, not surprising for someone who counts Criminal Minds as one of her favorite shows along with Friends, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Man with a Plan, and Big Bang Theory, among others.
Anne Curtis and Kapuso actress Heart Evangelista are Avia's favorite local actresses.
But even those two stars won't be able to match up with her greatest role model in life.
Photo by: avia.sahara (IG)
“Growing up, I have witnessed how strong, faithful, and kind my mother is despite all the rough patches she went through,” Avia said about her mother.
“Forgiveness is the most important thing I have learned from my mother.
"Most people value their pride too much and they tend not to forgive which is sad because I believe not having the ability to forgive is the root of most of the problems that we face in life.”
Cheer for Avia and Letran's women's swimming squad in the upcoming Season 96 of the NCAA on GMA News TV and via online streaming on GMANetwork.com.
Kapuso viewers living abroad can catch the action via GMA Pinoy TV.