Club swimmers place first

Two Hoosiers took first place earlier this month at the East Coast Swimming Championships in Atlanta.

Junior Hunter Hoffman, an exercise science major, finished first in two events.
Hoffman, originally from Anderson, Ind., finished first in the 50-yard free event in 20.61 seconds. He also finished first in the 100-yard free, breaking the record with a time of 44.75 seconds. The previous record was 45.93.

Freshman Taylor Johnson, also an exercise science major, finished first in one event and second in another.

Johnson placed first in the 50-yard butterfly, finishing in 25.89 seconds. She also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly, coming in with a time of 58.92 seconds.

Hoffman has swam competitively for nine years and Johnson for eight. Both swimmers had similar success in high school, receiving conference and sectional titles, and were state qualifiers.

Johnson said she admired one of her former coaches from her hometown of Greenfield, Ind., before coming to IU. He had been her coach from sixth grade through her junior year of high school before he left for another position.

“He taught me to swim, and he kind of stepped in as a father figure to a lot of us, too,” Johnson said.

He was the first coach with whom she went to state.

Hoffman said his club coach from Anderson influenced him.

“He was the only reason I got out of the floating stage of swimming,” he said.

Hoffman and Johnson said they have similar styles of preparation for competition.

“I like to know my competition,” Johnson said. “I like to pump myself up and get nervous and get excited for it.”

Hoffman said he enjoys doing the same, reviewing the times of his competition to see how close they are.

He said when he gets on the block, he likes to do “the Michael Phelps thing” with his arms, stretching in a similar fashion as the Olympian.

“It looks kind of goofy, but it’s fun,” Hoffman said.

Johnson said she listens to music with “a good beat” before competing. Hoffman takes a different approach.

“I listen to Maynard Ferguson before I swim,” he said. “We used to listen to the Pokémon theme song before home meets.”

Hoffman and Johnson also said they have different pre-competition meals.

“I usually get a chicken biscuit from McDonald’s and two hash browns,” Hoffman said.
 
Johnson said she prefers to eat lighter, generally sticking to granola bars.

To celebrate their victories, Hoffman and Johnson accompanied the rest of club to a steak house in the area.

Their end-of-season banquet is a celebration of the success the club and the individual swimmers experienced throughout the year, Hoffman said.

Johnson said the club accepts swimmers of all levels.

Hoffman recalled his experience when he first joined the club.

“Going into it I was nervous, but by the end of the first practice I was already buddy–buddy with a lot of people,” Hoffman said.

The club is a very open group of people, Johnson said, and she makes a conscious attempt to learn the names of all the people who are trying it for the first time.   

“It’s a good group, like a friend group,” Johnson said. “I would definitely tell them to try it.”

Both Hoffman and Johnson said anyone curious about looking into the club is more than welcome to check it out.

“You won’t find a group of people easier to get along with than IU Swim Club,” Hoffman said.

Junior Daniel Xu, director of communications for the club, said the club strives to maintain an inclusive atmosphere.

“It’s like a family away from family,” Xu said.

Xu said the club is always looking to expand and add new members every year, emphasizing that anyone can join at any time, and there is no cut-off day to join.

With nationals in August, Hoffman and Jonson said they will continue to swim during the summer with clubs from home.

Both Hoffman and Johnson expressed an interest in swimming after college at the Masters level.

“I’ll be swimming until I can’t walk anymore,” Johnson said.