LA JOLLA, Calif. – You think you have a lot going on? Meet Ciara Franke: Athlete of the Year for UC San Diego in 2021, Team Captain for the Women's Water Polo team, Swimming star, and master baker. Franke does it all. She manages to spread her time among both water sports, while creating a stress-free space in the kitchen where she presents another passion. Three-time NCAA Championships qualifier, four-time All-American, and CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team do not even begin to cover the many titles and accomplishments Franke has achieved during her time at UC San Diego. Outside the pool, she continues to grind through academic obstacles, allocate time to each of her friends, and work on top of everything else.

Franke was kind enough to set aside time to speak with me about how she manages to juggle her many commitments and uncover the exciting aspects each component of her busy life.

The first passion she pursued was baking. "I've been baking with my grandma for as long as I can remember," said Franke. "I love baking because, I love eating cookies, and I love giving them to other people and letting them enjoy." Her creativity in the kitchen arose prior to her time in the water, though she embarked on her water sport journey only a few years later. Her swimming career began while her dad and current assistant coach here at UC San Diego, Randy Franke, worked at a pool. His encouragement pushed Franke to fall (quite literally) in love with the pool. At the ripe age of six, she joined her first ever swim team. After gaining a foundational background in swimming, she explored the water polo scene. Franke described water polo as a place where she can socialize and experience the team in its entirety: fun jokes, reliance on one another, and a collective goal each member works hard to reach together.



The question remains: "How does she have the time to do everything?" Franke responded to my question, well, frankly. "Um, I really don't!" she exclaimed. Just like the rest of us, Franke works hard to maintain a certain level of organization while relying heavily on time management to allocate certain hours to respective areas of her life. "I have a planner, and it has all the little hours written out, so I go in the week before and write out everything, making sure that I give time to all my friends. I may not be able to hang out with everybody in one week, but maybe I can say 'Okay, I'm going to hang out with these two or three people this weekend, and next weekend I'll hang out with a different group,'" Franke explained.

Her baking remains a sideline activity – one that she feels is a fun form of stress-relief. She informed me that she integrates her baking into her two athletic environments by sharing her confection creations with her teammates. "Every year, the swim team does a team dinner over winter break when we're in training, so I usually bake two or three cakes for that. I try different flavors out on them," she told me. "For polo, I made everyone in my class a little birthday dessert – Tera likes cake pops, Gracie likes almond cookies – I take requests. I say, 'What do you want me to bake for you?' I do whatever they want." Her nonstop lifestyle slows down in the kitchen, where her baking gives both her joy, and the recipient of the delicious concoction a pleasantly full stomach.

At a university which prides itself on its academia, Franke has found a way to redefine the phrase "scholar-athlete." While the juggling of so many priorities can be challenging for anyone, she uncovered the ways UC San Diego has made it manageable and helped her become the scholar-athlete she is today. "[UC San Diego] definitely gave me a space to grow. I feel like coming out of high school, I was very shy and uncomfortable in big groups," she admitted. "And now you're team captain!" I responded eagerly. "Yeah! I feel like high school sports are a lot different, so being able to come into this program and grow through it all with the support of the department, and athletic trainers, everyone here wants you to succeed."

It goes without saying – her time at UC San Diego has enabled her to learn new life skills, push the realms of her own comfort (both athletically and personally), and create friendships that will last a lifetime. Whether in the pool or kitchen, Franke knows how to apply both patience and practice to everything she does. Next time you head to Canyonvew Aquatic Center, don't forget to keep an eye out for 6'2" superstar Ciara Franke.



About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.