This weekend the girl’s varsity swim team will be headed to the state championships in Virginia Beach and, considering the team’s undefeated 8-0 record, expectations are high.
One of the bright spots for the team is 15-year-old freshman Janet Hu, who is considered one of the top swimming talents in our area.
“Janet is a spectacular athlete. She has been swimming since a young age and she’s done phenomenal for us,” said her high school coach Hunter Owen. “She adds great athleticism to the team and she’s a very stoic athlete who gets the job done and has a great time doing it.”
Find out what's happening in Oaktonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Hu began swimming at the age of 7, when her mother took her and her older brother Philip, who currently swims for the Oakton’s boy’s varsity team, to a swim lesson and the pair did not want to get out of the water,
“I thought it was really fun and I started swimming in summer leagues and eventually winter leagues,” Janet Hu said. “It’s something that I was good at and enjoyed.”
Find out what's happening in Oaktonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She began swimming for the Carl-Burke Swim Club and created a stir in the swimming community by setting a plethora of National Age Group records for butterfly, back, breast and freestyle categories.
Hu added two regional records to her impressive list of accomplishments earlier this season when she swam the 100 back in 55.60 and 50 free in 23.4.
“I compete in all of them but I am best in the 100 fly and back,” Hu said. “I practice with my school team once a week and my club team the other days.”
At states, Hu will be swimming the 100 butterfly, the 50 freestyle and the 200-medley relay along with teammates Melissa Shebat, Kaitlin Pawlowicz and Ashley Doran.
“I think Janet is a great addition here and she’s definitely one of the focal points and one of the strong members of a strong unit,” Owen said. “She’s made All-American time standards in multiple events, and she’s broken records in the district and in the region and she’s going to continue to break records, and I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do at state.”
Talking about her team, Hu is excited about being a part of something that is doing so well and she is having fun at the same time.
“I really enjoy being around my friends on the team and I feel like it’s really exciting to have the best time and being part of a team and having activities to do with the team,” she said.
When not in the pool, the freshman can be found at the mall shopping, at the movies or just hanging out with her friends.
For her part, Hu is looking forward to the competition this weekend, but like most girls her age, she’s also excited to be heading to the beach.
Although not superstitious, Hu said she loves peanut butter sandwiches and usually eats one before and after a swimming competition, and believes that could be a key to her achieving some more records in the future.
Looking ahead, Hu plans to continue swimming and hopes to do some on the college level and perhaps make more noise in competitions as she gets older.
“I went to my first summer nationals this past year and I did OK for my first time,” she said. “I want to focus on doing better and continuing to improve.”
Judging by her positive attitude and multiple accolades, you can expect her to do just swimmingly.