SIOUX CITY — Owen Hoak found out at a young age that his ticket to a good future began in the swimming pool. It took stepping away from the pool to realize that.
That discernment paid off for Hoak, as he’ll be one of 10 Sioux City Spartans swimming at this weekend’s state meet in Marion, Iowa. Because of that achievement, the East High School senior is this week’s Metro Athlete of the Week.
When he was 10 years old, Hoak needed a break from swimming. He realized that swimming wasn’t as fun back then, and he wasn’t sure what his motive was for jumping in the pool.
His parents, including Spartans coach Eric Hoak, had successful swimming careers and Owen Hoak was worried he was swimming just to keep them happy.
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Owen Hoak was swimming in the Tri-State League, and there was a competition where Owen won all seven events he was in.
Owen Hoak felt powerful, having won every event. But, he wasn’t happy. He wasn’t feeling like he was doing it for himself.
One day, Owen Hoak had to have a chat with his parents. He announced that he was taking a hiatus from swimming competition, and no one was quite sure what was coming before that.
“I’m 10 years old, and all my friends were inviting me over to watch movies and have fun, and I was like, ‘No, I’m sorry, I have to go swim,’” Owen Hoak said. “I felt like I was missing out on some childhood stuff. I needed to make sure that swimming was something I wanted to do, and not something that my parents really wanted me to do. It was a mix of keeping my friends and keeping my parents happy.”
Eric Hoak admitted that the news broke his heart a little bit, but he had to let his son make decisions on his own. There were no questions, there were no pleas.
They needed to let him be a kid.
“We were both very attached to the pool, but at some point you got to let them figure out who they are,” Eric Hoak said. “You've got to have a love for the sport because it's too much work otherwise.”
Owen Hoak then started getting bored not being in the pool on a regular basis. He did enjoy being around his friends more, but the daily routine started getting repetitive.
Owen Hoak discovered he was being around the same people doing the same things over and over.
He then started watching some sports movies, and that’s where the competitive juices started to flow again.
”I knew that if I wanted a future in something, I had to start working now,” Owen Hoak said. “I saw how the sports movies showed how putting the hard work in. It was something I wanted to do, and I wanted to take it seriously.”
The results started to show, especially during his freshman year.
Owen Hoak wanted to make it to state, and he did, by qualifying with three seniors for a relay. Owen Hoak knew he had pressure being a freshman on a senior-dominated relay team, but he embraced that challenge.
He saw what hard work really meant, and he saw that he had the potential to have a solid swimming career if he worked as hard as those three seniors did three years ago.
“All those seniors had been to state before, and I was in that same crowd,” Owen Hoak said. “It was super scary. It was those guys’ last shot, and I was hoping I wasn’t going to mess up their last swims.”
Then, during his sophomore year at the state-qualifying meet, Owen Hoak accidentally left early during the 200-yard freestyle relay, and that disqualified that group from making it to state.
Owen Hoak felt terrible about that moment, and even at home, Eric Hoak wanted to curl up in a ball with his son and empathize.
Both the Hoaks knew, however, that there was more work to be done.
So, Owen Hoak worked harder.
“I didn’t want to feel that way again, feel broken down,” Owen Hoak said. “I wanted to feel the opposite and lift everybody up. Bring them to the next level.”
Hoak is competing in two individual events at the state meet — the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races — as well as the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay.
In fact, the 200 medley is seeded second behind Iowa City West. The Spartans swam a time of 1 minute, 35.93 seconds last Saturday at the Fort Dodge meet, winning the race and setting up a chance at a state title.
“He's always got those stepping stones,” Eric Hoak said of Owen. “And as a coach, that's what you want. You want somebody who's coachable and he's that, you want someone who's driven, he's that. You want someone who is still on their upswings and that you want. As a parent, you want him to be happy. You want him to be successful. You want him to enjoy where he's at and what he's doing.”
Hoak is one of four seniors who are going to state. Owen Hoak’s best friend, East’s Cody Bates, is one of three seniors on the 400 free relay.
North’s Reed Adajar is in the 400 free relay and the 500 freestyle.
West’s Easton Gelinne is the third senior on that 400 free relay, and Gelinne also qualified in the second-seeded 200 medley relay.
Honorable mentions
Rylee Rosenquist, Dakota Valley girls basketball: Rosenquist scored her 1,000th career point last Monday in a win at North.
DaVares Whitaker, East boys basketball: Whitaker posted a 41-point game last Tuesday in a loss against Sergeant Bluff-Luton.