Washington
09 July 2008
American Katie Hoff goes into the Beijing Games four years older andfour years removed from her first Olympic experience in Athens when shewas just 15 years-old. VOA's Chris Cox has the story on the maturationand expectations for 19-year-old swimming star at the upcoming OlympicGames.
At age 15, swimmer Katie Hoff was the youngest athlete onthe entire United States team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Her age,mixed with her lack of international experience, made for a ratheruneventful Games, as she placed seventh in the 200-meter individualmedley (IM) and 17th in the 400-meter IM.
But since her lessthan stellar showing in Athens, Hoff's swimming career has boomed. Shecurrently owns the world record in the 400-meter IM and in the800-meter freestyle. She also owns several American swimming records.
But to Hoff, gold medals are more important than world records.
"Yeah,I mean world records are awesome but I think at the Olympic games it'smore about racing hard and putting your hand on the wall first because,you know, a gold medal no one can take away from you, but a worldrecord someone can," said Katie Hoff. "So, especially at the OlympicGames you want a gold medal."
The 19 year-old Hoff will haveplenty of chances to claim a gold medal, as she was the women's star atthe U.S. swim trials and will have six races on her Olympic schedule. Hoff will compete in the 200-, 400-, and 800-meter freestyle races, the200- and 400-meter individual medley races, and she is on thefour-by-200-meter freestyle relay team.
To go along with hernatural swimming ability, Hoff does have the athletic gene in her. Hoff's mother, Jeanne, was a basketball player at Stanford Universityin California and is the school's fourth all-time leading scorer. ButKatie Hoff told VOA Sports that her parents never pushed her to be aworld class athlete.
"My parents have been great," she said."They kind of let this be my own thing. They don't pressure me oranything. When I was little they would always say, 'if you want toquit tomorrow, you can. We're not pressuring you to do this.' But Iobviously I didn't want to and they were there to support me. Mycoaches along the way have been just great in supporting me and pushingme to be my best."
One way Hoff's parents showed their supportfor her was teaching her at home. Hoff told VOA about the benefits ofbeing home schooled.
"It's been great," said Hoff. "I'm actuallydone with all my high school requirements, which is nice. I finishedright before I went to worlds [world championships in Melbourne inMarch]. Along the way it's been awesome because I don't have to stayup really late to finish a paper or miss a swim meet because I have ahuge test. So that part has allowed me to work my school around myswimming."
Shortly after the Beijing Olympics, Katie Hoff willbegin college at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland. Althoughshe will not be able to swim for the Loyola team because she forfeitedher college eligibility when she signed various endorsement deals, shewill serve as an assistant coach for the swim team.
Hoff willstay at home in Baltimore to continue training with her coach PaulYetter and the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC). Hoff and Yetterwill also be joined by Hoff's former club teammate, eight-time Olympicmedalist Michael Phelps, and his coach Bob Bowman.