While many athletes across the world were disappointed and disheartened when this year’s Olympics were postponed until 2021, National Team member Charlotte Hook felt differently. 

Instead of despair, she felt a sincere sense of relief. 

Even though she was feeling good about her swimming, she was glad to have another year to get stronger and faster before competing in her first Trials in Omaha. 

“I had a little bit of a rough year in terms of figuring out the right schedule for my training and some other issues unrelated to swimming and saw this as a sort of ‘do-over’ to improve and to be in a better place than I was last year,” said Hook, the youngest (16) member of this year’s U.S. National Team. 

“With it being my first Trials, I’m definitely nervous but also super excited to experience that sort of hyped-up atmosphere. I’ve never attended Trials as a spectator either so the experience of it all will be totally new for me.”

Like all swimmers at the start of the pandemic, Hook said she had difficulty finding a pool in which she could continue training – especially with Trials and the Olympics still on the calendar at the time. 

She said it took time to adjust from training between two and three hours each day to not having practice at all. But fortunately, her club team, the TAC (Triangle Aquatic Center) Titans, and her coaches did a great job making sure the members stayed in shape. 

“(Coaches) sent dryland workouts so we were at least being active and staying fit,” she said. “I also was lucky to have access to a lake where I could do some open-water training – an experience that was new and a little intimidating at first, but ended up being really enjoyable.”

When she was able to return to swimming, Hook said she came back she had a much greater appreciation for every aspect of swimming – from her coaches to the facilities to her teammates. 

And that trickled down to her schoolwork and relationships with family and friends.

“Even on really difficult sets, I would still be just so thankful that we were able to train, especially knowing that others were still unable to,” said Hook, who loves “regular” teenage activities like hanging out with friends, spending time at the lake and playing with her cat. 

“Outside the pool, I definitely got much better about time-management and setting a schedule. 
I think you have to in times like these. If I don’t plan out my day, I’ll end up sitting in my bed watching Netflix and nothing will get accomplished.”

During the “pandemic break,” she, her brother, sister and mother got away from the city (she lives in the Raleigh, N.C. area) and spent time at their lake house for a couple of months. Her dad, who works in healthcare, was unable to go with them. 

She said their time together proved to be “a really nice experience” to get to be up at the house for such a long time because normally they can only stay for weekends because of swim practice. 

“Having the lake to train in was another benefit that I utilized to keep a feel for the water as best I could,” she said. “I was definitely worried initially with getting out of shape and how long it would take to get back in shape, but with everything being canceled, I came to accept that I couldn’t control the situation and it would be ok in the end.”

She started swimming when she was 2 years old. Her parents wanted her and her siblings to be safe in the water, so they started swimming very young. 

When she was 5, her neighbors joined a new summer league swim team, and her parents thought it sounded like fun, so they signed her and her sister up.

She tried other sports – playing a couple seasons of lacrosse and did taekwondo for a few months – but nothing stuck like swimming. 

“It’s always been the primary sport that I participated in,” she said. “I loved it so much, I joined a year-round team the following fall and have been swimming ever since.” 

Hook earned her stripes in the sport as a 14-year-old when she competed at 2018 U.S. Nationals, capturing a bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly.

14-year-old Charlotte Hook (left) takes the podium in the 200m butterfly at the 2018 USA Swimming Winter National Championships alongside Olivia Bray (center) and Hali Flickinger (right).

A year later at Nationals, she swam some of her best times and earned a spot on the 2019 Junior World Championship team as well as her first U.S. National team with a ninth-place finish in the 200m butterfly. 

“When I finished the race (at Nationals), I walked over to my coach and he told me my time might qualify me for the National Team,” she said. “It was probably one of, if not, my favorite races I’ve ever had.”

Subsequently, she earned a spot on the team headed to Budapest, and in her first big international meet, she earned the bronze medal in the 200m fly. 

She said her experience at Junior Worlds was amazing, and being part of such a talented team like Team USA was an honor that continues to motivate her to swim for herself but also for her country. 

As a result of that meet, she said she learned what swimming for something bigger than her feels like and thinking about Omaha/Tokyo and the chance to do it again remains a great motivator. 

“It’s a feeling that is difficult to beat,” she said. “Even though my swim at World Juniors wasn’t a best time, I was so thrilled to be there, to experience racing in an arena like that and to represent the United States.”

Since then, and with spring, summer and fall meets largely canceled or postponed, Hook said her team has been fortunate to hold several intrasquad meets and small dual meets throughout the past few months. These have proven to be great opportunities to get some racing in.

But for Hook, who sees herself as more of a “process person,” it didn’t bother her much that she hasn’t had lots of meets or any big competitions. 

“I enjoy the grind of day-to-day practice just as much as meets,” said Hook, who is currently attending classes virtually in her junior year, but hopes it’s not something that will continue the rest of the year.

“We’ve been training really hard since getting back in the water, and I have definitely noticed improvement, especially with my endurance. I’ve been doing some more distance training, which I feel is paying off in many of the events I swim, and it’s exciting to see and feel that in practice.”

And now that she and everyone else has been granted an extra year to prepare for the next Olympics, Hook said she is excited to continue to pursue her Olympic dream.

Whether that comes next summer or in 2024 or even later, she knows the experience will be unlike anything she’s ever dreamt of – and she’s looking toward the future. 

“I think all young swimmers will say that they want to make the Olympics, and I know I definitely did say it when I was younger, but I don’t think it was ever the focal point or main goal for me,” she said. “I really just want to be the absolute best swimmer I can be whatever level or qualifications that may get me to. For me, the big picture is to improve and to keep having fun, and meets and teams, etc. happen as a result of that focus. 

“There are so many amazingly talented swimmers in the United States, and so I honestly don’t know about 2020 or 2024. I don’t think it does me much good to predict results or make assumptions, I just train everyday as hard as I can because it’s what I love to do and whatever happens in the future will happen then.”