CLEMENTS’ KAYLA FU HAD A REMARKABLY IMPRESSIVE FRESHMAN YEAR IN 2021. SHE WAS REMARKABLY DOMINANT THIS SEASON.
After taking bronze in the 50 and 100 freestyles at the Class 6A state swim meet last year, the talented sophomore upped her game in late February.
Fu won gold in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.21 seconds and took silver in the 100 freestyle at 50.33 seconds. Fu built on what she learned last year and was even better this year.
“I learned to focus on what you can control, and not other people,” Fu said. “Focusing on other things will get you more anxious and will impact your performance, especially when you don’t have your team there at state. I didn’t have people to calm me down or talk to, so I focused on myself and just doing my best.”
It was a storybook postseason for Fu. At the Region V-6A championships, she won gold in both freestyles, breaking the regional and Cy-Fair Natatorium pool record in the 100 freestyle. Each of her times were the second best in the state.
Fu has been swimming for about 10 years, following in the footsteps of her older brother, and teammate, Alex.
“Growing up with a brother, I had a competitive urge to try to win,” Fu said. “I’m always focused on how I can do better. Swimming comes down to how competitive you are.”
Alex is a senior at Clements and plans to swim at the University of Pennsylvania. Fu hopes to follow him there.
“He’s always supporting me,” Fu said. “It’s really cool to have him on the same team as me.”
Fu said she has learned about determination and work ethic from watching Alex.
“When I was younger, practices were hard, and I didn’t really have the mental capacity to put in all my effort every day,” she said. “When I saw him swim and practice, I saw him putting in full effort every single day. That’s when I knew I would have to do the same if I wanted to be good.”