The Preps : Girls’ Athlete of the Week : Hugh Rides Wave of Success to Two Titles

When she was 5 years old, Betsi Hugh tagged after her sisters--Kristi, 6, and Lisa, 7--to the Huntington Beach Aquatic Club, where she plunged into the water after her older sisters.

She has been in the swim of things ever since.

Last week, Hugh, The Times’ athlete of the week, was a double winner at the Southern Section 4-A swim championships. Hugh, a Marina High School senior, defended her section championship in the 200-yard individual medley, winning in 2 minutes 5.30 seconds. She also won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.90.

Hugh, a four-year varsity swimmer, was undefeated in Sunset League competition this year. She helped Marina to a second-place league finish and was voted Sunset League swimmer of the year.

Though she specializes in the individual medley and the butterfly, “she swims just about everything pretty well,” Marina Coach Dave Pickford said. “We have 10 events and she holds the school record in eight of them.”

A member of Fullerton Aquatics Swim Team (FAST), she works out from 5:15 to 6:45 a.m. and again from 3:15 to 5:45 p.m. every day except Sunday. She often sits in class smelling of chlorine.

But that doesn’t bother her.

She doesn’t have much time to go out with friends during the week. But she doesn’t let that bother her either.

“For most kids in high school, swimming is an activity,” Pickford said. “It is something to do. For other kids, it is a sport. They are going to get a letter in it and try to qualify for CIF. And then there are people who make things happen, and Betsi is in that category.”

Hugh knows what she wants--a spot on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. “That has been my goal forever,” she said.

Two years ago, as a 15-year-old sophomore, Hugh won the 200-yard individual medley in the 18-and-under division at the Junior Nationals in Milwaukee. She has been working to match the exhilaration of that victory ever since.

“When you get up on that top block and know you’ve won, it is like a really neat feeling,” she said. “You go, ‘Wow! I want to get back in that pool,’ because you know you can go faster.”

TOP PERFORMERS

Janet Evans of El Dorado won the 200 individual medley, swimming a national high school record time of 1:59.96 at the Southern Section 3-A swim championships Saturday. She also won the 500 freestyle (4:38.84).

Allison Franke of Canyon set a Southern Section 3-A record in the discus with the third-best toss (160-6) in Orange County history at the 3-A track and field preliminaries at Gahr Saturday.

Betsi Hugh

Marina High School

Position: Swimmer

Height, Weight, Class: 5-8, 132, Senior

Last Week: Hugh placed first in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly at the Southern Section 4-A swim championships.

Season: Hugh was undefeated in the medley and butterfly in Sunset League dual meets.