A fraternal affair

Published 7:51 pm Monday, December 31, 2007

Visit Vanderzicht Pool in Oak Harbor pretty much any day during the winter and you’ll see it’s quite the family affair.

The Oak Harbor High School boys swim team boasts three sets of brothers: junior Bryce Vagt and his freshman brother, Brandon; twin freshmen Devin and Tyler Schell, and junior John Hu and his freshman brother Price.

“It’s nice to have brothers (as teammates),” Oak Harbor coach Erika Miller said. “You’ve got that family rivalry and at the same time you’ve got the support.”

Among the siblings, the Hu brothers are the ones making the biggest splash in the Oak Harbor pool this season.

John, a two-time state participant, already has qualified for state in three events, including the 200-yard individual medley. He also broke the school record in the 200 IM several weeks ago, turning in a time of 1 minute, 59.45 seconds.

“Mostly I was thrilled that I broke two minutes,” he said. “I didn’t know I had broken a team record when I finished the race.”

Price has yet to qualify for state, but he is close in the 100 butterfly.

In addition to competing, John also has the added responsibility of keeping an eye on his younger brother.

“It’s like a job you enjoy,” John said of having Price on the team. “He’s someone who really understands me, but then I kind of have to watch over him and make sure he doesn’t do anything too freshmanic.”

“Freshmanic” would include activities such as belly-flop contests and drinking a two-liter bottle of root beer on the bus ride home from a meet.

Apparently such antics are not uncommon from the taciturn Price, who both John and Coach Miller agree can be quite playful when around people he’s comfortable with.

“He never says a whole lot unless he’s with a group of people that he knows the most — then he’s kind of that guy who’s silly,” John said. “He’ll say something funny with a weird spin, then he’ll end with a ‘heh, heh, heh.’”

“That’s so true,” Miller said with a laugh. “It’s random, it’s so random.”

While John prepares himself for a meet by stepping back, taking a deep breath and calming himself, Price essentially zones out.

“I try to clear my thoughts before I start my race,” Price said. “There’s not really a lot on my mind.”

That’s not usually the case. Both Hus are quite bright, and their precociousness carries over from the pool to the classroom.

“There’s a high standard in (our) family and there’s a high standard for myself,” said John, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average and takes Advanced Placement classes in history, chemistry and language and composition. “The family expects us to do well in school.”

Price had a slightly different take: “Pretty much I’m expected to be a little above average,” he deadpanned.

Price’s humility doesn’t really do justice to the brothers’ many talents. Both play the alto saxophone in band and both swim competitively for the North Whidbey Aquatic Club.

Through their club team, the duo competed in the Western Zone Championships last August in New Mexico. While there they stayed in “a little Olympic village where all the athletes stayed together and spectators weren’t allowed,” according to their mother, Janet Tipping.

But the Hu brothers seem to enjoy high school swimming the most. Price said he really enjoys the bus trips, and John said the team unity is closer in high school than on the club circuit.

“On the bus ride, I’m amongst my swimming friends,” John said. “It’s a place where I can kind of unwind and let out the guy and put away the shy guy.”

John has experienced success at the state meet, finishing fifth in the 200 individual medley and winning the B final in the 100 backstroke in 2007. He also competed in the 100 backstroke in 2006.

But does Price feel any pressure to follow in his brother’s swim strokes?

“I guess there’s a little pressure to be like him, but not a whole lot,” Price said.

For his part, John doesn’t put any undue pressure on his younger brother.

“I don’t think of myself as a role model for my brother and sister, but I guess I’m trying to leave a legacy,” he said.

Little sister Ciara, who is in eighth grade, will swim for the Wildcats next year. Unlike her older brothers, Ciara doesn’t hesitate to speak up.

“She’s a chatterbox,” Miller said.

While John is enjoying the family’s success in the pool, he points out that it has not come without hard work.

“I’m lucky and thankful and fortunate,” John said. “There’s a lot of people out there who are working to get me to (be) as good as I am now and they’re still working to get me better. There’s a whole lot of things going on backstage that people don’t see. They don’t see my mom and dad driving me to practice, don’t see my mom wake up at five in the morning to wake me up … There’s a lot of things that people don’t see.”