Richard Hills has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Minnesota. The Baltimore, Md. native was a USA Junior Nationals qualifier in multiple events this past summer. “Richard is an outstanding student who scored a perfect 800 verbal score on the SAT and exemplifies exactly what we look for in a student-athlete. U of M assistant coach Bill Tramel said. “Last year we had 25 of our 34 student-athletes post a 3.0 GPA or higher and Richard will fit in perfectly academically. He plans to major in engineering and chose Minnesota in part because of our outstanding engineering program.”
Hills is the first member of Minnesota’s 2008-09 freshman signing class. He competed in the 200-meter breaststroke, 400 IM, 100 breaststroke and 200 IM at the 2007 USA Junior Nationals. He also recently competed at the 2007 USA Spring Nationals in New York.
His top times are 4:00.70 and 4:37.34 in the 400 IM (short course yards/long course meters), 2:04.15 in the 200 breaststroke (SCY) and 1:53.19 in the 200 IM (SCY). He also owns a top time of 2:09.75 in the 200 IM (LCM).
We recently spoke with Richard about the keys to his success.
You just signed a letter of intent to swim at the University of Minnesota… What advice would you give home schoolers around the country who dream of playing sports in college?
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What I have learned is that your education and academics are far more important to getting into the school of your choice than is your sport. Good schools will look far more favorably upon a pretty good athlete with a great academic résumé than they will upon an outstanding athlete with only average grades and test scores. My swimming is good, but not spectacular enough to make Big Ten Schools interested in me with that as my only drawing point. I know people who are faster swimmers than I am, but because they didn’t place as much emphasis on their academics, they couldn’t get into some of the more prestigious schools to which they applied. Make sure you are properly prepared to make your school work your foremost priority.
How did you prepare for the SAT? how were you able to get a perfect verbal score on the SAT?
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My parents arranged for me take it several times, definitely improving my scores as I became more familiar and comfortable with the testing format. I have been very lucky to have parents who read to me from an early age and instilled in me love for and the value of reading. I’ve spent much time reading, studying, and analyzing many types of literature just because I enjoyed doing so. Subsequently, I didn’t find the verbal section very perplexing. I can’t say I knew every question, though; I did have to guess on a few. Instead of attributing my score to chance, I’ll give the glory to God.
Do you ever feel discouraged / tired in school or in athletics? and if so, how do you deal with this and keep pressing forward?
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Oh, yes, I’ve been very discouraged before, to the point where I’ve considered giving up swimming. A few bad meets in a row and missing training because of sickness or injury was very depressing and made me ask, “Why am I doing this, anyway?” What keeps me going is my love for swimming in toto . I just love the water! I chose to swim regardless of my performance.
One thing that helps me is goal setting. While long term goals can give me direction, more tangible short term goals can show me measurable results. I write down not only my long term, five-year goals, but I also write down short term goals for this coming year, this coming month, and even this coming competition/meet. I set goals for each individual practice in my mind before I get in the water. At least one of these goals will motivate me at any given moment.
Do you have any Olympic aspirations?
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It would be awesome to compete at that level; it may be the impossible dream, but I’ll strive for it regardless. There’s no point in setting barriers for myself. Currently I’m more concerned with my short term goals and my work to perform to those standards in the next few months.
Can you walk us through a typical day in the life of Richard Hills?
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5:55am
Wake up, grab a shake and bowl of cornflakes before driving to the pool
7-9:30am
Swim about five miles in the first two hours; perform dry land exercises that include weights and various sit-ups for the next half hour
9:45am-3:00pm
Arrive home, eat, study, eat, and study
3:00pm
Drive to the pool
3:15-3:45pm
Dryland workout
3:45-6pm
Swim six-ish miles before…
6-6:45pm
More dryland
7-10pm
Arrive home, watch an episode of Hogan’s Heroes while I eat dinner, do an hour or so of homework while listening to music, mess around online for a few minutes, then go to bed.
What were your favorite team(s) growing up?
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With Dad being in the Air Force, we moved every 2-4 years; I never got really attached to any particular city or team. I do like to pull for the Redskins, though, because I’ve spent five years in Virginia and, unfortunately, they’re usually the underdogs.
What is your favorite pre-meet meal?
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Lasagna and salad are favorites of mine and are easily found in almost any restaurant when I’m on the road so I’ll often go with that. But anything that has a good combination of carbs, protein, and vegetables will do me nicely.
What is your favorite movie?
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Ooh. That’s going to be tough to narrow down. I think I’ll go for either “The Blues Brothers” or “Star Wars Episode IV” or “The Matrix.” I’m really into really old TV shows from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s (sorry if I offend any of my more mature readers by calling those shows old): Hogan’s Heroes, Mission Impossible, The Prisoner, The A-Team…. They don’t make them like they used to.
Who / What gave you the motivation and encouragement to get to where you are now?
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All my coaches throughout the years have pushed me to push myself further than I was comfortable. Also, my parents have been a very encouraging and positive influence on me regardless of what I wanted to do with myself; they haven’t pressured me to perform in sports. Academically, of course, they’ve always been on my back to make me work to my highest potential, which I confess I often needed. But most of my drive comes from within me. It would be foolish to spend twenty-five hours a week on swim training to make someone else happy. It helps that I am competitive almost to a fault; I want to be better than other swimmers and better than myself. Finding people like my NBAC teammates to train and race with or motivated friends to study with helps stimulate me and focus my competitive spirit.
What would you be doing if you weren’t swimming?
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I’d probably be on a debate team and playing rugby or hockey or water polo or some other sport. I really wish I had had the time to play more sports in my youth, but swimming demanded daily commitment. Maybe I’ll try water polo in a masters’ league when I’m old and grey.
How has home schooling played a part in your life?
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My home schooling has given me a personal foundation built on both reading and a wall-less classroom in which I experienced human history and the world around me. I have had the free time to pursue my interest in reading. HSI
In my room I have been building a personal library filled with my favorite books acquired at library sales or stolen from my parents’ bookshelves. HSI
I’m not sure under what cataloging system Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Victory Through Air Power by Alexander de Seversky, Sun Szu’s The Art of War , or Machiavelli’s The Prince would be shelved side by side, but nevertheless, they are in my system.
My field trips and other experiences also laid groundwork upon which I built my knowledge of history and my understanding of the world around me. My parents made sure my brother and I had plenty of time to take “field trips” to historic and natural sites of significance wherever we were living.
When we moved to a new assignment, we drove a new interstate route, exploring national parks and battlefields along the way. While living in California I got to climb around in the tide-pools under the cliffs at the beach, finding giant sea urchins, starfish, and sea hares.
I visited the J.P. Getty Art Museum regularly and viewed the exhibits, learned how metal sculptures were cast, ran around the cactus garden (not recommended), and searched for fossil imprints in the building’s travertine façade. When I was in northern Virginia I took weekly trips to Mount Vernon or the Smithsonian in D.C. (taking special interest in the Air and Space Museum), and drove down to Colonial Williamsburg several times a year. My mom took great advantage of the three years my family was stationed in Australia, arranging trips over the whole country and to New Zealand. I have hiked in rain forests and glaciers, photographed underground lava tubes, and stood on the top of Uluru. Through home schooling I’ve gained perspective, learned that everything is interrelated, and found education is not restricted to a classroom.
What is your favorite memory / story about being home schooled?
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I always enjoyed the flexibility of schedule that home schooling gave my family and me to explore whatever sights were near where we were living. My family had three tours living near Washington D.C. so I especially delighted in visiting The Smithsonian for a full day once a month. My mom, brother and I spent many hours at Mount Vernon running through the gardens, jumping off the “hah-hah” wall, and learning just about everything there was to know about George Washington. Visits to Colonial Williamsburg were also a favorite treat of mine. We would wake up early in the morning, get on the road south, and arrive at 9 A.M. The next seven hours we would spend watching the reenactments, climbing over the cannons at the powder magazine, messing around in the stocks and pillories by the courthouse, and learning colonial craft methods from the artisans in the pewter and gunsmith shops before driving home again that night.
Who was your sports hero growing up?
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I have never really had any. I don’t follow sports religiously as many of my friends do; however I do have a great deal of respect and admiration for our nation’s Founders for their vision and foresight. James Madison’s writings in The Federalist Papers calling for restraints upon the new United States federal government in preference to states’ rights are more inspirational to me than any physical activity on the field.
How did home schooling prepare you for life as an athlete?
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I think home schooling prepared me for life in general, not just life as an athlete. I figured out early on that achievements don’t happen by themselves. Like many home schoolers, I learned that self-motivation will help me to succeed more than anything else. On my own initiative I sought out new experiences and learned to discern good advice and form opinions for myself. Independence and self-sufficiency will almost always take you further than if you are, by necessity, reliant on others.
What is the greatest advice you have ever received and who gave it to you?
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Proverbs 3:5,6- Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.
I am particularly fond of the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And--which is more--you’ll be a Man, my son!
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