Saluting the Seniors | Jenny Hu

Jenny Hu has been a stalwart for the women's swimming and diving program throughout her career at Tufts. The graduating senior and four-time all-NESCAC breaststroker from Oakland, Calif., did not take long to adjust to the rigorous world of collegiate swimming, winning the 100-yard breaststroke — which would prove to be her signature event — at her first-ever Tufts swim meet in the fall of 2010.

The trend continued throughout her freshman year, as she racked up seven more individual wins — winning each of the season's breaststroke events at least once — and quickly became a consistent member of the team's medley relays. She capped off her debut season with significant contributions at the NESCAC Championships, swimming the breaststroke legs of Tufts' sixth-place 400-yard medley and third-place 200-yard medley relay, both of which recorded national B cut times. More impressively, Hu placed third in the 50-yard breaststroke and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. If there were any doubts about the rookie, she silenced them with a national B cut and school record-breaking time of 1:06.28 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Coming off a successful first year, Hu's sophomore season did not begin as favorably. She started the 2011-12 season sick with bronchitis and strep throat, and was unable to compete in the first four meets. Though she returned and swam for the majority of the season, she failed to win a single individual event. But Hu finally returned to form in February of 2012, placing second in both the 50-yard and 100-yard breaststroke at NESCACs, setting school records in both events and recording a national B cut time in the 100-yard. Her times were good enough to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March, where she competed in four events. She placed 27th in her trademark 100-yard breaststroke, and was part of Tufts' 14th-place 200-yard and 400-yard medley and 25th-place 400-yard freestyle relay teams. The outstanding performance earned Hu two honorable mention All-American awards.

Riding the momentum of her NESCAC and NCAA success, Hu was dominant in her junior year. She won 10 individual events, three of which came in a single meet against Wellesley. Every meet of the season saw Hu take at least second place, and she ended the season as one of the Jumbos' top point scorers. At the 2013 NESCAC Championships, she solidified her status among the top swimmers in New England, winning the 100-yard breaststroke and again setting a new school record and national B cut time. She also finished fifth in the 50 breaststroke. Though she was ranked 14th in the nation, Hu's time in the 100-yard failed to qualify her for that year's NCAA Championships, as only the top 12 swimmers were accepted.

Hu's senior year was arguably both her most challenging and her most impressive. Expectations were high for the already three-time all-NESCAC swimmer, but unfortunately it seemed that Hu would have an inauspicious start to the 2013-14 season after she breaking her pelvis in September. Yet by the team's first meet in November, Hu had more or less recovered, taking second in the 100-yard breaststroke; at the following meet she earned NESCAC Performer of the Week honors after winning three events. Though the women's swimming and diving team struggled this past season, Hu remained a constant point scorer, garnering at least one win for the team in nearly every subsequent head-to-head meet.

In what would be the final meet of her collegiate swimming career, Hu won a conference title in the 50-yard breaststroke, broke school records in each of the three breaststroke events and swam two national B cut times at this year's NESCAC Championships. She was also awarded second place in the NESCAC Senior High Point Award for her contributions over her four years. Despite qualifying for the NCAA Championships, she declined to compete.

She credits the support of her teammates and the strong bonds she formed for her success.

"My time on the swim team has been my most rewarding experience at Tufts," Hu said. "Being on the team feels like being a part of a huge family of very different girls, all of whom you love to death. I guess swimming over 70 miles in two weeks [during the team's winter break training trip] can have some crazy side effects."

With her three school records, two NESCAC titles and invaluable point contributions, Hu will be remembered as one of the top Tufts swimmers to ever take the pool.