Hannah Oh, a junior swimmer on the Palo Alto High School swim team and Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, recently verbally committed to Brown University.
Oh is currently ranked 28th in the state out of more than 800 swimmers. She is the highest ranked at Paly and 6th at PASA, according to Swimcloud.
Oh said Swimcloud ranks swimmers by creating a power index based on multiple meet times.
“There is an equation that is built into Swimcloud and based on your times, it gives you a certain number for each event,” Oh said. “The better your event is, the lower the number gets. Then the average of the top 5 of your events or numbers is your power index and [the] overall number is used to rank swimmers in each class.”
According to Oh, the Paly swim team did well on their last meet and is hoping to win the Central Coast Section Swimming Championship.
“We [the swim team] recently won our SCVAL leagues meet which we won for the 6th year in a row,” Oh said. “We are hoping to win CCS for a second time in a row, and hopefully win a couple medals. Then we have states in Fresno and it is the fastest high school meet in the country so the audience is always packed.”
While Oh is successful now, it wasn’t always that way.
“At first, I was really bad at it [swimming],” Oh said. “I was the slowest swimmer on the team. I didn’t improve until I was 13 years old. That’s when I really started being motivated and determined to get better.”
Oh said her motivation didn’t come from a celebrity role model or a high-ranking athlete, but the community she was surrounded by.
“My friends show up to practice every day, and I wanted to be with them, so I also came to practice,” Oh said. “I started getting better and [thought], ‘Maybe I do have some talent in this sport,’ so I stuck with it. … There wasn’t really anyone that I looked up to or idolized. It was my friends and my family who kept pushing me to do better.”
According to junior Sabrina Meyers, who is also on the Paly swim team, Oh has consistently uplifted her fellow teammates throughout her high school years.
“I’m so glad I met Hannah,” Meyers said. “I don’t know where I would be in swim without her. … She has been such a strong supporter of me and my swimming. I wait for swim season at Paly all year just so I have the chance to be with her for longer. She really helps me get through the tough practices in the middle of the season.”
Junior Katherine Kirk, another one of Oh’s teammates, said Oh is truly a fun and passionate teammate.
“She’s always down for anything and is super enthusiastic during practice,” Kirk said. “I can always count on her saying ‘Let’s go, Katherine!’ before a set. She definitely pushes me in and out of the water and is a great role model for me and my teammates.”
Oh committed to Brown because she said it fits what she looked for in a college.
“Their open curriculum is so flexible and nice,” Oh said. “The town is really nice, and it’s safe, … It’s not in the city and it’s a very college town.”
According to Oh, her verbal commitment followed a series of conversations with different coaches.
“Coaches are allowed to start talking [to colleges] on June 15 after your sophomore year,” Oh said. “Then you’re building a connection or a relationship with them [the college coaches], and you call them to update them about your meets, how your summer’s going, how your academics are and all your test scores. Then, in the early fall and later in the school year, they can invite you on school visits, where you’re an actual athlete for that day. You do that for a couple of schools, and if they give you an offer, then it’s up to you if you want to take it [the scholarship].”
Looking to the future, Oh said she will keep trying her best and hopes to adapt quickly to the change in her swim schedule in college.
“The plan now is just to get better and continue to improve,” Oh said. “I’ll have a different routine … different practices and a different style of coaching, so the schedule is going to be different. I’ll have a lot more time on my hands. … Once I get to college, I’m planning on focusing on school and swimming.”
Oh’s next meet is CCS from May 5-9 at Independence High School in San Jose.
