I used to swim every day in my hometown; USC - extracurricular activities

In a short paragraph, please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (250 word limit)

Oftentimes my only resort and escape was swimming. Prior to moving to the United States, I used to swim every day in my hometown before I moved to America for high school. Year round, the climate was much more suited to the outdoor swimming. I first started learning to swim at a very young age. My first experience with swimming was an unfortunate one. Essentially, I was drowning in my parents' backyard swimming pool. After my mother dived into the pool and saved me, I was subsequently enrolled in swimming lessons. Of all my hobbies and talents, I enjoy swimming the most. Swimming provides me with a sense of purpose, direction and most of all, pleasure in an intrinsic activity.

I began to enter swimming competitions and mastered the front-crawl, breaststroke and
freestyle. More importantly, I began to dive on a frequent basis. I was incredibly passionate about diving and would often spend hours engaged in this activity. Often, I would come down with a cold or flu due to excessive time spent in the pool and this would infuriate my mother! Swimming has played a huge part in my life and I look forward to brushing up on my various strokes at your university swimming pool.

what do you think about it? thanks!

I don't think you have to say "used to swim" everyday because you say "prior to moving to the United States." It seems redundant.

I also think you should vary sentence lengths more to keep things interesting.

Good luck!