Swimming & Diving: Taking it one stroke at a time

Despite starting his swimming career at the age of 4 for his hometown team, senior Colin Hanna did not enter the world of serious competitive swimming until he was a junior in high school.

“I grew up in Hong Kong most of my life, so I was doing a lot of different things,” said Hannah, a co-captain on the men's swimming and diving team. “I didn’t get serious [about swimming] until I moved back to the States. My junior year I moved back to the California neighborhood where I started, joined a serious program and really started dedicating time to it.”

But this late entry has not handicapped Hanna in the least. The two-time high school All-American holds a Hong Kong national record in the 200-meter individual medley and Princeton records in the 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley, and he received first-team All-Ivy League honors.

“We ended up using him in almost everything because he is that talented and can do most anything,” head coach Rob Orr said.

But Hanna is not content to sit on his previous successes and has set high goals for this season.

“I want our team to win [the Ivy League], which we’re fully capable of, and send at least a relay and a handful of guys to the NCAAs,” Hanna said. “Personally, I want to qualify for NCAAs and get top 16 in the 400 IM. I was really close my sophomore year, and this is my last shot to do it.”

Hanna's personal approach to swimming borders on spiritual, and this attitude has been a large part of his success.

“You can deconstruct the sport to you and utilizing the water,” Hanna said. “It’s the relationship between you and the water.”

Hanna employs this approach to distract his mind while swimming the hundreds of laps necessary for training.

“I’m either singing songs or turning my brain off and just feeling myself in the water, feeling how I’m moving through it and having a heightened sense of that,” he said.

But there is more to Hanna than just his spiritual outlook. Fellow senior co-captain Pat Biggs was able to attest to Hanna's lighthearted personality.

“During the Ivies our sophomore year he won the 400 IM, and they parade you out in the final heat and then bring you to the box,” he said. “And [Colin] has his Princeton top and these fluorescent shorts on, and everyone is like, ‘Who is this kid?’ ”

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Biggs laughed as he completed the anecdote. “Of course he came out with his fluorescent short shorts, and then goes out and wins it.”

Hanna’s comedic personality and thoughtful methods mask the fierce competitor within.

“Before the race he has a killer look in his eye that makes people like me never want to race him,” senior Tristan Hastings said.

Hanna’s quasi-spiritual approach to swimming has most recently been manifested by his introduction of weekly yoga sessions into the team’s training regimen.

“Of course he would be a yoga master too,” Hastings said.

Out of the pool, Hanna is majoring in politics and will graduate with a certificate in Chinese language and culture.

“Growing up in Hong Kong, I’ve taken Mandarin since I was 6,” Hanna said. “I’ve really focused on international relations, international relations with China and the intersection of different economic classes.”

The same spirit that drove him to pursue multiple paths in high school also impacted his academic path.

“I like to think I’ve done a pretty good job taking a wide spectrum of classes,” Hanna said. “I’ve taken poetry classes, neuroscience class, a whole host of journalism classes.”

Hanna’s thoughtful and laid-back mentality extends beyond the pool and pervades every aspect of his life.

“I always try to keep in the back of my mind that no matter how hard it is, how tough it is at that particular moment, you’ve got to step back and recognize how lucky we are to be at an institution like this,” Hanna said. “Yeah, we spend a lot of time in the pool, but you’re spending a lot of time making yourself better at something you love.”

Hanna hopes that his way of thinking has impacted his teammates and will be a major part of his Princeton legacy.

“Don’t take yourself too seriously, and be great at [your passion]. Do whatever you need to do to be the best you can be at it, don’t make excuses for yourself, and enjoy it,” Hanna said. “If you’re going to put in the time, you might as well enjoy it. And if you’re not going to enjoy it, don’t do it, right?”