When Erika Remington was a freshman at the University of Denver, she took two breaths while swimming the 50-yard freestyle, the most high-intensity sprinting event in the sport. It’s a race that relies heavily on breath control to maintain proper hydrodynamics, and reaching the pinnacle means no breathing for roughly 25 seconds of heavy exertion. Three years later, through focus and breathing techniques, Remington covers the entire distance without turning her head “most of the time.” Many of her younger sprinting teammates now mimic her breathing exercises, and that’s because Remington understands lung health better than most. The high-level swimmer will graduate this summer with a dual major in biology and Spanish and hopes to become a doctor. In the same way that lung health was crucial to her athletic competition, it also played a big role in her education. Beyond her traditional studies in biology, Remington worked in the University’s Spit Lab during the COVID-19 pandemi