Jennifer Poff Cooper
Contributing writer
Ian Ho hits the pool earlier this month for the Virginia Tech Swim and Dive team.
“Ian is just one of those kids that you notice,” said Virginia Tech’s Director of Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Ned Skinner about Blacksburg swimmer Ian Ho.
Skinner had seen Ian grow over the years as a club swimmer and as an accomplished violinist. Additionally, he found Ho to be kind, respectful, humble, and considerate.
“Just an overall outstanding young man,” said Skinner.
Ho’s father started him swimming early, taking him to the Blacksburg Aquatic Center as soon as he could walk and holding him up in the water. Ho went on to spend his formative years swimming for Blacksburg’s club team, the H20kies, and its predecessor organization.
He also spent time in the summers at Tech’s Maroon and Orange Camp, where college swimmers counsel and coach high schoolers, participating as both a swimmer and a coach.
Still, Ho was not sure he wanted to swim in college. e shared that his times were the slowest of his freshman college cohort.
But, Skinner said, “The summer prior to starting Virginia Tech Ian really emerged as a sprint freestyle swimmer. I decided to give him a chance. No regrets!” Ho was offered a spot as a walk-on about a month before school started, he said.
Sprint freestyle means that Ho swims short distances of 50 and 100 yards. Training for sprints is specialized as sprinters focus on “power and explosiveness,” he said.
Weightlifting is an integral part of training that Ho added in college. “Ian has put on nearly 30 pounds of muscle through his commitment to the weight room,” Skinner said.
“As a swimmer, Ian’s strength is his natural speed and excellent mechanics, coupled with an outstanding work ethic,” Skinner said. Ho feels that doing well in the sprints and contributing to the relays are his best offerings to the team. His leadership by example is also an asset, according to Skinner.
Ho loves that swimming is both an individual and a team sport at the same time. He also appreciates the evolution of the sport, and being part of how times are getting faster and faster.
Ian Ho has been comfortable in water since a young age, growing up in Blacksburg and now swimming for Virginia Tech.
Since being on the team Ho feels his biggest accomplishment was making the 2015-16 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. He dropped 100 places to finish in the top 30 after being seeded 140th, said Skinner.
Ho grew up in Blacksburg and, unlike townies that are anxious to move away, he loves the place and was “in no hurry to leave.” He took classes at New River Community College his junior and senior years at Blacksburg High School, earning an associate’s degree by the time he graduated. Because his NRCC credits transferred to Tech, he is now a senior despite only being in his third year of sports eligibility.
His biggest challenge, Ho said, is balancing schoolwork with swimming. He accomplishes this by having a lot of friends – people to work with and be a support network that helps each other through difficulties in classes. Basic time management skills and just “being on top of things” are also important, Ho said.
Ho is on the All-ACC Academic Team and ACC Academic Honor Roll as a mechanical engineering major.
“I keep the big picture in mind,” Ho said, and he tries not to get bogged down in day-to-day stress. He knows that college is a brief moment in the entirety of his life, and he is trying to make the most of it. Ho loves Skinner’s mantra of “Keep the happy up.”
Skinner said, “He lives the life as a student-athlete every day the right way.”
Though Ho no longer takes violin lessons, he enjoys playing the instrument in church, at other Christian groups, and at special occasions when asked. His hobbies include outdoor activities such as hiking, rock climbing, and surfing.
At age 20 he is still figuring out his future. He may stay at Virginia Tech, use his final year of eligibility, and pursue a master’s degree. He is also considering working toward competing in the Olympics for Hong Kong, the country of his heritage.
“I see Ian as having unlimited potential,” said Skinner, “both in and out of the pool.”
The H20kies will start their competition schedule October 13-14 at Duke with Florida State before returning home for the Virginia Tech Sprint Challenge the following weekend with Queens, VMI and Liberty at the Christiansburg Aquatics Center.
Editor’s note: The Radford News journal accidentally omitted contributing writer Jennifer Poff Cooper’s byline from her article “In pursuit of Excellence” that appeared in Wednesday’s edition of the sports section. The Radford News Journal regrets the error.