When CHS freshman Tiger Chen swims, most people assume that he is a upperclassmen. He is taller than most in his grade, actually in the school, and he leaves almost all of his competition – freshmen to seniors – in his wake.

Chen learned to swim at the age of five in China. His mother’s job caused his family to move to Clayton when Chen was in second grade.

Chen began taking swim lessons when he moved to Clayton. He eventually joined CSP, a private swim team in Clayton, when he was eight.

“I swim with CSP because I am close with my coaches,” Chen said. “It was nearest swim team to me and the only swim team I knew at that time.”

In the afternoons Chen swims for Clayton and in the mornings he swims for CSP. Chen wanted to try swimming for both the Greyhound team and CSP at the same time because he still was committed to swimming with CSP.

When the Clayton swimming season ends he is going to swim mornings and afternoons with CSP.

Fellow teammate freshman Tristan Belzer is impressed by Tiger’s dedication in swim meets and in practices.

“Tiger is a fast swimmer and he’s pretty cool,” Belzer said, “He is our best breaststroker. Tiger is super dedicated to swimming because he swims two times a day, for two different teams. He’s also put on a different lane, that has harder intervals. He’s very hard working. Tiger swims more and pushes himself constantly.”

The 100 yard breaststroke and 200 yard IM (individual medley) are some of his favorite events, and also his best. Chen’s won several events throughout the season so far; in the local area he is ranked in the top 15 of the fastest swimmers in multiple events. He’s posted top times on the team in five or more events, and has made top five in zones, which is a multi-state swimming competition.

Another thing to add to Chen’s list of achievements: he has already qualified for the state competition in the breaststroke. He posted 1:04.17 as his top time.

Chen has also had some tough competition in the pool. He was more motivated to swim a faster time because he was racing alongside a friend of his from a rival team.

“I really wanted to beat him,” Chen said.

In addition to being a hard working athlete, Chen is also a hard working student.

Chen is also taking all honors classes, including Honors Algebra Trigonometry, a math class usually offered to sophomores. Between swimming and school, he gets little time to do homework. And the amount of homework Chen has can be stressful for him, so time management is crucial.

“I have to know how to do homework efficiently,” Chen said. “I guess that’s kind of the main thing, I find a lot of people have trouble finishing their homework, and I am determined to finish it.”

Two hours is all Chen needs to do homework each night, because he goes to bed at 9:30 p.m. and has to arrive at practice the next morning at 5:00 a.m.

As for his future on the CHS team, he has decided to continue swimming for the Greyhounds next year despite the lack of time he has to do other things.

Chen’s swim coach Robert Laux has been impressed with his contributions to the team. Laux hopes Chen will keep improving the next three years.

“He’s the fastest kid on the team, and he’s strengthened our relays,” Laux said. “Tiger has definitely filled niches that would’ve been missing from some of the kids that had graduated last year, and for a freshman to fill the spots of seniors, that’s pretty great.”