Kavish Siddhartha is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Scottsdale Christian.

Although Hope Hand can only put points on the board while in the water, her impact outside of the pool cheering on her teammates is what makes her the ultimate competitor.

Hand is a senior and captain of the Scottsdale Christian girls swim team and has broken multiple records during her time at the school. She holds the fastest time in Division III this year for the 50-yard freestyle at 24.29 seconds.

Hand has been swimming almost as long as she's been able to walk, as her mother, Amy Hand, is a former high school swimmer and instructor. Amy introduced Hope to the sport at a young age.

“When she was little, about 13 months, that was the first thing, get her in the water and get her swimming,” Amy said. “She’s been swimming since she was a baby.”

Once Hope hit the water, she never looked back. Hand is one of the few high school swimmers to make it to the state championship meet all four years and hasn’t finished below fifth place for any of her events.

Hand’s main events are the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

Hand has been swimming for the club Swim Neptune for the last 10 years in addition to swimming at Scottsdale Christian since she was in fifth grade. Throughout her time at Scottsdale Christian, Hand has embraced being a leader and mentor, resulting in her becoming a captain of the team.

Her time as a captain has taught her valuable lessons that go beyond the sport of swimming.

“I think you learn a lot from it,” Hand said. “Since my team is a smaller team, it was a little easier than having to lead a bigger team. But it’s great because not everyone is a club swimmer, so it’s really great to be able to teach them how to swim and how to have fun swimming.”

Scottsdale Christian’s varsity swim team includes eight swimmers, which allows for a close-knit relationship between teammates.

“I personally love a smaller team. We are more like a family and know each other really well,” Hand said. “We see each other at school all the time and I think we really bond well together rather than just knowing a couple of people on a team that may have 30 or 40 swimmers.”

Varsity swim coach Katie Shannahan said that Hand’s impact on the team goes further than her own performances. Hand supports and props up her teammates.

“Hope is one of our biggest cheerleaders and supporters of not only the school itself but the swim team and her teammates,” Shannahan said. “She always cheers behind their lanes for their races and always makes that a priority for her. I feel like it's so easy for athletes at Hope’s level to just be very focused on themselves 'cause swimming is such an individual sport, but Hope really shows her passion for the sport and pours that into her teammates as well, which is amazing to see.”

At 5-foot-4, Hand faces the difficulty of being a smaller swimmer. Despite the disadvantages, she embraces the challenge and uses it to fuel her performance.

“Hope is a very small swimmer so she’s an underdog,” Hand’s mother said. “She’s 5-foot-4 and most swimmers are around 5-8. So Hope has learned and has been trained for tedious hours with coaches to be what we call an underwater warrior. It’s amazing to watch Hope.”

While Hand focuses on her own performance, she also acts as an ambassador for the team, promoting the team's meets and trying to increase attendance.

“(She) always hypes up the program itself to her friends and is very involved trying to get people to come to our swim meets, which is hard because we aren't on campus,” Shannahan said. “So it's nice to have a captain that promotes the sport and is able to get an audience to our meets.”

Hand’s success comes from her immeasurable effort and focus on putting her best foot forward rather than aiming for records.

“For me personally, I want to do the best I can and even if that doesn’t happen during the season, I should still be happy because I put all my effort into it,” Hand said. “My goal is always to do my best.”