Get to know Langley High School swimmer Charles Hu
MCLEAN, Va. — 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聽 swimmer he can be.
鈥淲hen I鈥檓 in the water, it feels like I鈥檓 flying. When I was young, my parents put me in a lot of sports. I didn鈥檛 particularly like most of them because of the sweat, so that is why I took a liking to swimming.鈥� Hu says. 鈥淚 do like 16 hours of swim per week,鈥� he reports. He practices for several hours each weekday and then competes at meets on weekends. Langley鈥檚 Swim and Dive Boy鈥檚 team selected a few of the qualifying swimmers to compete at Liberty Districts in February.
鈥淭his year Langley boys placed first in states and girls placed second.鈥� Hu earned two second-place finishes along with a third place in Districts, improving upon last year鈥檚 results of two third-place medals. Hu鈥檚 hard work clearly pays off, and those around him can see it too.
鈥淚鈥檝e known Charles since freshman year swim,鈥� says Mikey Nguyen, one of Hu鈥檚 teammates and a fellow junior at Langley. 鈥淸Charles] is a great swimmer and he works very hard.鈥� Nguyen also puts an emphasis on the athlete鈥檚 eating habits. 鈥淗e consumes food like a vacuum.鈥�
鈥淚 admire how [Charles] manages school as well as putting so much time into swim.鈥� Nguyen goes on to say. 鈥淵ou 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.鈥� 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.
鈥淢y advice for anyone starting swim is that there is no time limit on it. You can swim even when you鈥檙e 70. It鈥檚 a great sport and it is definitely worth putting time and effort into,鈥� he says.
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