In a time when many seniors stress about the college admission process, one senior at Green Hope High School has little to worry about. Angelina Lu (‘26), a state finalist swimmer and dedicated student, committed to Columbia University’s swim program last spring, hoping to further her academic and athletic journey.
Throughout her high school years, Lu competed in the 200 backstroke, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Ethan Cooke, Lu’s coach, praises her as an effective swimmer and student. “She wants to know how she is doing in relation to her goals and has a seriously high standard for herself,” he claimed, “she is one of the hardest working people I have ever met, and she expects a lot out of others around her.” Lu’s hard work in swimming paid off when in the 2025 State Championships swim meet, Lu’s team in the 200 freestyle relay placed first.
During her career, Lu balanced her time competing in Green Hope swim with practicing at Raleigh Swimming Association as a club swimmer. “For most of the club swimmers, you’ll go to practice from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, and then you have a high school meet at 8pm that ends anywhere between 10pm and 11pm. So you’re getting home, and then you have to go to school tomorrow,” Lu shared in an interview. The late nights taught Lu how to balance her time effectively. “For me, at least, I like to plan which practices I’m going to throughout the week.”
Lu began her swim journey in 2015. “My parents wanted me to learn swimming just as a survival skill,” Lu reflected. “So my parents put me and my two brothers on a team…I really enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun and I made friends.” Lu decided to stay with swimming, and it paid off in her career.
A major step in Lu’s journey, committing to Columbia emerged when she, as an eager junior, began reaching out to universities, highlighting her athletic and scholastic achievements and noting her desire to continue swimming. “I wanted a school that was highly academic and also had a strong swimming program, and I wasn’t going to sacrifice the academic parts. I also knew I wanted to stay on the East Coast.” Columbia became the top choice after they reached out to Lu with an offer for her admission, which she accepted.
“What really drew me to Columbia’s swim program was that the team itself was really close and the relationships between the swimmers is definitely the culture that I wanted to have in college,” Lu praised. In addition, the boys and girls team swim separately. “You’re with your girls and they’re also your roommates,” Lu highlighted. “You’re going to be in classes together so I feel like it’s just like a really tight-knit community.”
In addition to swimming, Lu enriches herself in multiple passions. Her favorite class is Art and in her words, “That’s where I can have the most personal freedom and it’s also not a traditional class where you’re learning through lectures.” In addition to art, Lu is an avid reader. One book she recently completed is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Lu also took up sewing, making college pennant hoodies for herself and friends.
As Lu graduates from high school this spring, a piece of advice she has for students is to “stay positive, don’t count yourself out, and also reach out to schools you might not think that you would want to go to.” She also recommends prospective collegiate athletes to set their own paths in their recruitment journey, and not to compare themselves to others “because everyone’s on a different timeline.”
