Horace Shew first started swimming at just 8 years old but eventually quit. He joined the high school team as a freshman and with the constant support of his teammates, fell in love with the sport over the next three seasons. Now, as a senior, he is encouraging his teammates and helping them realize their passion for swimming.

Horace first quit swimming because he wasn’t enjoying it anymore. He said he didn’t have great teammates, which made it difficult to love the sport. After giving swimming another try, the encouragement from his teammates, support of his coaches and U-High logo on his swim cap for the past three and a half seasons have reminded Horace of his love for the sport.

At first, Horace wasn’t swimming to his full potential, but his U-High teammates made a big difference in his success. Horace also joined Midway Aquatics the summer before junior year, which helped him get faster. Now, he could potentially make it to state.

With teammates that are constantly supporting him, Horace started to enjoy going to practice and being part of the team.

“My teammates really believed in me,” he said. “They told me that I could get better and they encouraged me to put the time in. I set high goals for myself.”

This year, Horace and his coaches have set specific goals that he hopes to achieve this season. Kate Chronic, one of Horace’s coaches, explained that Horace has had big plans to finish off his last year on the team from the start of the season. To achieve those goals, they drew up a plan of steps and a timeline for Horace to reach them.

“He is actually ahead of the plan right now, which alternately I am excited for, and it makes me nervous at the same time,” Ms. Chronic said. “Now it is just a matter of we keep doing what we are doing and he stays healthy. If any of the swimmers get sick at this point, their season is finished because we are so close to the end.” 

As one of two captains, Horace thinks it’s important for the team to be a lot closer together now than they were at the beginning of the season. He said he wants each swimmer to not be afraid to step out of his comfort zone to achieve his goals.

“As a captain, it’s important that I create an environment in practice where we can all push each other beyond any self-imposed limits to achieve goals that are meaningful to ourselves,” Horace said.

One of the most important aspects Horace brings to the team is leadership. Both Coach Chronic and teammate Ben Cifu mentioned how Horace leads by example. According to Coach Chronic, Horace brings a sense of work ethic to the team, which hasn’t always been present in previous years.

“Horace is quietly inspiring to everyone else. He makes everybody else want to do better in practice and makes everyone want to compete better at swim meets,” Coach Chronic said. “He’s a big cheerleader as well. He’s always very supportive and genuinely cares about each and every one of the guys.”

With four freshmen on the team, Horace has worked to make each of them feel included from the very start. Freshman Graham Waterstraat explained that after every meet they have a ritual called “shoutouts” where each member gives another swimmer a compliment on something they did well. Horace went out of his way to shout out to new members of the team to make them feel more welcome.

“Horace is always really supportive of everyone and helping them get faster. He is also really good at critiquing everyone and giving them positive feedback,” Ben, a sophomore, said. “He teaches them how to train really well so that everyone can be more productive in practice and get faster.”