A coach’s encouragement can help an athlete achieve greatness. It can also stop the athlete from quitting a sport before fulfilling his or her potential.
Stephanie Ha began swimming competitively at age 8, but by age 10 she was bored and burned out. As she got ready to try something else, her club team coach, Drew Whorley, asked her to reconsider.
“He told me to keep trying because I was very talented,” said Ha, who stuck with it and is now among the best swimmers in the state. Learn more about what makes this versatile competitor unique.
Coach’s corner
Ha’s main events are the 100-yard butterfly and the 200 individual medley, which requires swimmers to use four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Ha also contributes to relay teams and has the talent to compete for a Division-I college program, said Whorley, who coaches Jackson. “She is always willing to do whatever we need her to do to help the team win,” Whorley said.
Why do you swim?
“Mainly because I really like how swimming is different from other sports,” Ha said. “It’s kind of like one shot. It can be determined within seconds or milliseconds.”
Aiming high
At last year’s Class 4A state meet, Ha was third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.46 seconds and fifth in the 200 IM (2:12.3). What are her goals for this season? “Obviously I want to try and get a higher place,” Ha said, “but I don’t really have a set goal. I hope for the best and I just want to improve my times.”
Class act
Ha’s favorite school subjects are math (currently pre-calculus) and Spanish.
Make it happen
As Jackson’s senior class activities coordinator, Ha helps plan prom and graduation events. “It’s really exciting. I get to be a part of making it happen,” she said.
Chow
Thai Bistro in Mill Creek is Ha’s favorite restaurant. Her preferred menu item is Phad Thai.
On the big screen
The last movie Ha saw in the theater was “Transformers,” starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and a bunch of massive robots. “It was really cool and action-packed. I haven’t seen a movie like that in a long time,” Ha said. “I used to be a really big fan when I was younger.”
Mike Cane, Herald Writer
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