All-nighters are not uncommon for McCormick students, who spend countless hours on EA problem sets, anything related to EDC and loads of midterms. But very few of the 1,300 engineering students at Northwestern face 5:30 a.m. practices five days a week.
Andrea Hupman does. As NU’s top freestyle swimmer, she’s expected to lead the team by example, then hit the books, something her teammates say she does exceptionally well.
“She is so incredibly smart,” teammate Katie Braun said. “I respect her so much for being an engineer.”
In addition to the amount of work she does for classes, Hupman also puts in approximately 20 hours a week at the pool. Hupman, one of the team’s top point-getters each meet, has already qualified for the NCAA championships in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.46 seconds at the Purdue Invitational on Nov. 20.
The freestyler has the Cats’ top times in the 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-yard events and has won 17 individual events at eight meets this season. But whereas Tom Wolfe’s Jojo Johansson takes Rocks for Jocks and Stocks for Jocks, Hupman’s courseload includes biology, physics and a team leadership class.
For a student interested in genetics and biochemistry, lab can sometimes get in the way of practice. Hupman had to miss every other Monday practice due to lab last quarter, which meant she had to make up the practices on her own.
“It was hard not working out with the team,” Hupman said. “I don’t have the same motivation or drive when I’m by myself.”
Yet she still managed to get things done.
The rest of the team doesn’t seem to mind that Hupman may sometimes have other things on her mind.
“She gets her work done,” captain Sara Petric said. “I think she is a great role model for the team and carries her work ethic into the pool.”
Hupman’s choice of major can be attributed to her motivation and aspirations. The sophomore knew before she applied what she wanted to study – the only question for her was where. As a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., Hupman was courted by the University of Georgia – where her older sister Christie swims for the Bulldogs – Auburn and Virginia.
When she was applying to schools, Andrea said she was pushed by Christie to go to Georgia, but NU was the only place that matched athletics with academics. Now that she’s here, she’s trying to balance the two. It’s a juggling act, but she’s managed pretty well so far.
“It does help that I’ve been swimming for so long,” Hupman said, “and that swimming and academics are separated.”
As for the future, “I’m too immersed in my studies to really know what I want to do,” Hupman said.
But for the immediate future, Hupman has one objective: to help her team do the best it can at Big Tens.
NU faces its toughest competition of the season at the Big Ten championships, which start today. All the athletes have different rituals to prepare for their events, but few unwind like Hupman.
“I try to forget about everything,” Hupman said. “I’ll probably end up doing biology homework.”
Reach Brian Regan at [email protected].