OUT OF OBSCURITY : Hundeby’s Victory in Nationals Brings Woodbridge Swimmer Attention

Chad Hundeby wonders sometimes what all the fuss is about.

Hundeby, a senior at Woodbridge High School, has been swimming competitively since the age of 5. Mostly in obscurity.

But let him win one race in a national meet, and suddenly people start to notice.

Two weeks ago, Hundeby finished first in the 1,000-meter freestyle at the U.S. Short Course national championships. Since then, he has been the object of attention, and that is something he tries to avoid.

“I can’t sit back and admire my accomplishments,” Hundeby said “Swimming is so much mental that you have to be focused on what you’re doing at the moment. There’s always someone out there that can beat you.”

He may sound a little paranoid, but that outlook has carried Hundeby through his most successful year as a swimmer without losing his focus. In the past year, he has set two Southern Section records, competed in the Olympic trials and won for the first time at the U.S. Short Course meet.

Yet, none of it has changed Hundeby’s philosophy. He remains in obscurity, at least in his own mind.

“Anyone can do what I’ve done. Anyone,” Hundeby said. “The difference is confidence. Most people hold themselves back by thinking they can’t do it. All the training in the world won’t help you if you’re not mentally ready to swim.”

Hundeby has spent 13 years developing that mental edge.

He joined the Irvine Novaquatics because he liked water sports and wanted to have some fun, not to gain recognition.

But by the time Hundeby was 12, he already had impressed Novaquatic Coach Flip Darr. So much so, that Hundeby was promoted to the senior team and competed against swimmers who were mostly five or six years older.

“Some of the people on the team picked on him pretty good,” Darr said. “He was so much younger and they gave him a hard time. But Chad learned to get around it by focusing on his swimming.”

Hundeby refined his skill and, by the time he reached high school, he was already considered a talented swimmer.

As a freshman, he finished second in the 500-yard freestyle at the Southern Section 4-A meet.

Hundeby has been on his way ever since. Last May, at the Southern Section meet, he set 2-A records in the 500-yard freestyle (4 minutes 23.67 seconds) and 200-yard freestyle (1:38.17).

But he has had problems at times on the high school level.

“It’s tough to get motivated when you know that you can lap the competition,” Darr said. “The competition just isn’t as strong compared to club swimming. I mean Chad can be out of the pool and in his sweats by the time the other swimmers are finishing.”

Going against lesser competition, Hundeby has lacked motivation at times. In dual meets, he has had a tendency to lose his mental edge.

“There are 12 or 13 dual meets a season and it’s tough to get up for everyone of them,” he said. “It’s tough to do your best when no one’s there pushing you.”

Hundeby has found ways to get motivated. He will swim events other than the mid-distance freestyles, which are his specialties. He also sets goals in each event, times that might be a little out of reach, to push himself.

“We’d like to see Chad be at his best in every meet, but I understand how difficult it is,” Woodbridge Coach Dan Gaines said. “He has gotten better this year.”

When swimming for the Novaquatics, though, Hundeby doesn’t have to manufacture motivation.

“You look down the starting line and everybody is as good as you are,” Hundeby said. “That’s where the mental aspects are really important.

“You can train five hours a day for six months for one particular race. But on race day, you just might not feel it. The training won’t help you then.”

Hundeby speaks from experience. At the Olympic trials last summer, he swam poorly, finishing 15th in the 500 freestyle.

“I don’t think he was confident he could beat people at that level,” Darr said. “But it was a learning experience for him. It was a stepping stone.”

A stepping stone that led him to this year’s nationals.

On the first day of the short course championships, Hundeby was ready to swim.

He looked down the line on the starting block and felt confident that he could win.

“I knew it was a tough field, but it wasn’t anything special,” Hundeby said. “I had it in my mind that I could win.”

He did, with a time of 9:01.53.

“I looked down at him on the medal stand and he looked at me and grinned,” Darr said. “We both knew he’s accomplished the ultimate.”

But Hundeby didn’t want to make a fuss about it.