Sink or Swim: CHARLES HU’S Swimming Experience
By Eesha Somasundar
Charles Hu is a junior at Langley High School and competes with the Langley Swim and Dive team. He started swimming when he was just six years old and
has continued to swim competitively ever since. He is extremely dedicated to the sport and sacrifices a ton of hours to become the best possible swimmer he can be.
“When I’m in the water, it feels like I’m flying. When I was young, my parents put me in a lot of sports. I didn’t particularly like most of them because of the
sweat, so that is why I took a liking to swimming.” Hu says. “I do like 16 hours of swim per week,” he reports. He practices for several hours each weekday
and then competes at meets on weekends. Langley’s Swim and Dive Boy’s team selected a few of the qualifying swimmers to compete at Liberty DIstricts in February.
“This year Langley boys placed first in states and girls placed second.” Hu earned two second-place finishes along with a third place in Districts, improving upon last year’s results of two third-place medals. Hu’s hard work clearly pays off, and those around him can see it too.
“I’ve known Charles since freshman year swim,” says Mikey Nguyen, one of Hu’s teammates and a fellow junior at Langley. “[Charles] is a great swimmer and he works very hard.” Nguyen also puts an emphasis on the athlete’s eating habits. “He consumes food like a vacuum.”
“I admire how [Charles] manages school as well as putting so much time into swim.” Nguyen goes on to say. “You can tell by talking to him that [Charles] is a smart person who is also really nice. [He] is always encouraging me and others on the team.” says Nguyen.
Hu says that he believes team spirit is very important to the overall improvement of the team. With his decade-long experience and outstanding accolades, Hu hopes to swim in college and works extremely hard towards that goal.
“My advice for anyone starting swim is that there is no time limit on it. You can swim even when you’re 70. It’s a great sport and it is definitely worth putting time and effort into,” he says.
