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Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, swimmer Dominique Kaijser lived as a Christian in a country where only 29 percent of the population claims to be religious. At Biola, Kaijser is surrounded by an all-Christian community, one that has been encouraging and challenging her as she has adjusted to life in the states and learning about her faith.

Between the ages of 9 and 17 Kaijser moved back and forth from Sweden to the U.S. before she finally made her way back to the U.S. for college. Kaijser became an Eagle in the fall of 2014. She decided to attend university in the states because “Biola had exactly what [she] wanted.”

With a spunky personality and a love for Christ, Kaijser was never phased by the thought of moving 5,000 miles away from home for school. She was excited by the opportunity to experience everything Biola had to offer and has been open to the adventure that was moving worlds away from her home of Sweden.

Kaijser originally chose to attend Biola because she wanted to learn about her faith in a scholarly way after having lived in a country where Christianity is almost rejected.  

“In Sweden it’s not only uncommon to be Christian, but it’s almost frowned upon, because their understanding of it is wrong,” said Kaijser. “I felt like I was the only one at my high school to be a Christian and it really tested my faith.”

Because Christianity is so uncommon in Sweden, Kaijser was constantly questioned about everything from why she was so positive all the time, to why she believed there was a God. However, through these experiences she was able to understand her faith in Christ, which lead to her completely solidifying why she believed in God.

As an Eagle, Kaijer hopes to grow in that faith, and with the help of the swim team and their coach she is doing just that.  

“Our team is very unique in the fact that we all have our lives anchored in Christ,” she said. “The point is to raise each other up, and to build the team up, and through that we are glorifying God.”

Swim coach and professor Edmond Shepard commented that Kaijser’s outgoing personality allows her to bond with everyone on her team. 

“Dom is funny because she has such a spunky personality,” said swim coach and professor Edmond Shepard. “She has a big heart and she genuinely cares for her teammates and puts 100 percent into everything she does in the pool.”

Shepard said that he expects to see a lot of growth in Kaijser’s swimming in the coming years. Last year, Kaijser hit national qualifying marks in the 50-freestyle, 100-freestyle and 100-butterfly, and her best finish at the NAIA National Championships was a 28th-place finish in the 100-butterfly.

“She's just a naturally talented swimmer,” said Shepard. “Last year we were able to take some of that talent and start to harness it, I think within these next two years she's really going to see a lot of improvement.”

Kaijser said she enjoys being led by coach Shepard because he encourages his team to be better in their academics and their overall walk with Christ as well as encouraging them to be better swimmers.

“Our coach makes it really clear that it’s not just getting a good time, it’s way bigger than that,” Kaijser said.

Shepard said he’s sees Kaijser fulfilling every requirement that he places on his student-athletes.

“A Biola athlete is someone who strives to be the best athlete they can, the best student they can, and the best follower of Christ they can,” said Shepard. “I think she [Kaijser] does a really great job of fulfilling that vision that we have for our student athletes here at Biola.”

Visit Biola’s to get information on the swim season.

Written by Brittney Morales, iBiola intern. Photos by Andrew Daughters. For more information, contact Jenna Loumagne at (562) 777-4061 or jenna.l.bartlo@biola.edu.