Champion Chan yearns for more

When she first stepped on the scene two years ago as a freshman, Olivia Chan immediately made a splash, breaking Nassau County records and winning state championships.

Now in her junior year, not much has changed as Chan, who swims for Sewanhaka and attends New Hyde Park, won her third straight state title in the 100-yard breaststroke, breaking her own Nassau County record with a time of 1 minute, 2.76 seconds. She also won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.57, which she also won in her freshman year, giving her a total of five state titles in a young high school career.

"I was really happy with myself because I wanted to win both state titles," she said. "My goal was to break a 1:03 in my breaststroke and I'm really glad that I did."

Chan has won so many medals and awards that some of them had to be put in storage bins, but medals and plaques from her greatest achievements and all her newspaper clippings are hung on her wall.

It's almost unfair, the way she is head and shoulders above her competition: at the Nassau championships, she won both events by more than five seconds each. But if you never saw her swim, you'd never tell she was such a dominant force because her soft-spoken and humble demeanor would make you think the opposite.

"I stay humble because I keep setting the goals for myself, I keep setting the bar higher," she said. "I know I haven't reached my full potential yet, and I just want to be the best I can be."

That humility possibly comes from the start of her swimming career: Chan started competing at 8 years old and admits she didn't start off so well.

"I was terrible," she said. "But I promised myself I would do whatever it takes to become a great swimmer."

At the age of 11, she met her club coach Rob Ortof and started working to become better.

"She was very quiet, she barely spoke to me the first few years," Ortof recalled. "But she showed a lot of talent and promise. Even as a youngster, she was very dedicated and a hard worker and eventually she started progressing."

Ortof has been with her through all of Chan's success. "I'm like a proud father," he said. "I'm just very happy for her and all she's done, and I know she has the potential to be even better."

Her hard work has definitely paid off, as college recruiters have already contacted her. "That's very exciting. I heard swimming in college is an amazing experience," she said.

In addition to her hard work in the pool, Chan excels in the classroom and she hopes to attend an Ivy League school.

Chan was in Atlanta this past weekend competing at the Long Course Senior Nationals. She said she is hoping to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials next summer in the 100-meter breaststroke.

"The experience is really thrilling," she said. "The qualifying time is 1:12.19 and I'm currently at 1:12.9, so I'm going to try my best."

She has accomplished so much and she still has one more year left in her high school career, and she said she has even bigger aspirations for next year.

"I just want to defend my state titles," she said. "But my biggest goal is to set a new state record [currently 1:01.10] in the 100 breaststroke."

For Chan, the sky's the limit.