[Editor’s note: “Take Five” is a recurring feature designed to offer a quick look at some of Oregon’s most interesting high school sports standouts. Today we meet senior Hunter Stewart of Sherwood, who’s been a varsity swimmer for the Bowmen since her freshman year and who has been swimming competitively on club teams for almost a decade. We asked Stewart to answer five questions from the 25 we sent to her. Her responses follow…]
OSAAtoday: You can blink and be transported to any place in Oregon for a day. Where do you go and why?
Hunter Stewart: I would like to go to Crater Lake. I have been just about everywhere in Oregon except for Crater Lake, which is crazy because it is a national park and everyone says it's a must-see location in Oregon. I've also read that there is one place in Crater Lake that visitors can swim in; so, I would love to do that!
OSAAtoday: What Olympic sport do you think you’d be the worst at and why?
Stewart: I think I would be the worst at weight lifting. Olympic weight lifting I feel like is so intense and dangerous, I feel like I would be literally and figuratively crushed if I tried to do anything close to what they do.
OSAAtoday: What’s the wisest thing a coach ever said to you?
Stewart: The wisest thing a coach has ever said to me was probably first said when I was a freshman. Now I hear it pretty regularly and it is, "Last one, fast one." This simple phrase can be used in so many situations and interpreted in so many ways. When my coach first said it, he meant that we only had something like 50 yards left so we better make it fast. Now, I use this phrase pretty regularly in my life to keep me motivated in practice and sometimes when doing school work.
OSAAtoday: What is your favorite class in school and why?
Stewart: Either chemistry or biology, I really like all things science-related. Chemistry was super cool because I found it interesting to learn not only why certain phenomena happen, but also how they do. I like biology because I'm always interested in what’s going on in the body and why it's happening. In college I hope to be able to study biomedical engineering because it seems to mix all of my interests into one career.
OSAAtoday: When the lights are out and you’re just about to fall asleep, what do you think about?
Stewart: I often replay what happened that day and make sure I finished everything that needed to get done. When I'm not doing that I work on visualization for swimming. So, I might visualize a race going 100% perfectly or I might imagine the worst-case scenario for a race; that way I know what it will feel like to do it perfectly but also I know that I can keep going even if something bad happens.
Read other Take Five articles published in connection with the 2019-2020 school season:
South Umpqua outside hitter Shalyn Gray
Lincoln distance runner Mia Kane
Madras football player Treyvon Easterling
Gladstone soccer player and cross country runner Derek Johnson
Canby soccer standout Ruby Kayser
Exceptional Scappoose athlete Emma Jones
Siuslaw harrier Brendon Jensen
Wilsonville volleyball attacker Lindsey Hartford
Lake Oswego runner Brogan Deem-Ranzetta
osaatoday@osaa.org
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