Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 4 | March 2018

34 Inside Hokie Sports That’s where fellow athletes Jared Haught and Robert Owen come in to help. Haught, a current wrestler for the Hokies, and Owen, a former swimmer, also pursue degrees in mechanical engineering. Together, the three continue to work their way through college, while Ho and Haught currently excel at their respective sports (Owen also excelled during his four years). Often, students and fans tend to forget the pressure facing student-athletes because they only see them on the athletics fields, on the court, on the mat or in the pool. To sum it up briefly, Ho said, “Engineering is a team sport.” For Skinner, there isn’t much reason to be concerned about his student-athletes. The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned Scholar All-American Team honors from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America for the academic work done by both during the fall semester. Virginia Tech athletics, as a whole, saw 60 percent of its student-athletes earn at least a 3.0 GPA. “Our men’s team carries almost a 3.1 team GPA,” Skinner said. “We are used to seeing very good swimmers who care about engineering. Mike Swanhart, our academic coordinator, merits a lot of credit. The S U C C E S S H o m e t o w n looking after these guys academically. I think that environment helps that.” Ho is one of six seniors on the men’s team, and with young sprinters growing into the program, his leadership role provides the Hokies with something they need. It serves as a big part of the reason why Virginia Tech produces quality swim teams year after year. Between all of the pressure that comes with school, Ho still finds time to be a college student, as he has a keen interest in surfing and rock climbing. “We went to Hawaii, and I learned how to surf there,” he said. “It’s a different dynamic to swimming. I love it a lot because there’s less drag. You’re on a board, and your surfing on top of it, but you can still use all the same muscles for getting around.” It’s no surprise that a swimmer enjoys surfing, but when it comes to rock climbing, Ho finds the finesse part the most interesting. “Seeing other people who are super good, and if they have amazing body control, that blows my mind sometimes,” he said. He also finds ways to incorporate his field of study into helping improve his personal life. As a talented violin player, Ho recently Continued from page 32 I an is just one of the most kind-hearted people I’ve ever met. He’s fast, and he’ll swim fast, but he doesn’t have an attitude that goes with it. To me, he’s always been Ian Ho, whether he was 12 years old or now to an elite ACC finalist and NCAA qualifier. Tech swimming coach Dr. Ned Skinner on Ian Ho “ ” culture of the men’s team, where academics is important, helps Ian. He tutors a lot of the guys and is always looking out for them. Guys on the team looked out for him when he was going through the ranks, and now he is