Whitworth swimmer Carly Hoff selected as Northwest Conference Female Athlete of the Year, nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

Putting maximum effort into her academics and athletics resulted in Whitworth University swimmer Carly Hoff being named the Northwest Conference Athlete of the Year and nominated as an NCAA Woman of the Year.

The former swim captain had a dominant collegiate swim team career, reaching finals in all three individual events in the 2021 NWC championships and finishing third in the 200 freestyle as a sophomore. She stepped it up her junior year when she became 2022 NWC champion in the 100-yard freestyle and the runner-up in the 50-yard freestyle. As a senior, Hoff was named an NCAA Division III first-team academic All-American .

“You need to put in 100% effort, and that’s how I’ve been my entire life,” Hoff said. “(If) I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do something well.”

Hoff discovered her aptitude and love for the water when she was 8 years old.

“I tried sports that were on land, and those didn’t work out quite well. So then my mom was like, ‘Let’s try a swim team,’ ” Hoff said. “Ever since then, I’ve not left the pool.”

In addition to her athletic achievements, Hoff graduated from Whitworth with a 4.0 grade-point average.

“I love school and I love putting in 100% effort, so for me it wasn’t like I need to get an A, otherwise people are gonna be disappointed in me,” Hoff said. “I’m gonna get the A because that shows that I put in 100% effort.”

Whitworth provided Hoff opportunities not only for swimming, but for teaching – a career that she wanted to pursue since she was young.

“Some people (had) imaginary friends, I had an imaginary class,” Hoff said.

Her room was set up like a classroom and would “play school” on the weekends with her siblings when she was younger.

“I knew I wanted to go into teaching and knew I wanted to be with younger kids,” Hoff said.

Whitworth’s four-year elementary education program fit what Hoff was looking for in academics. With the swim team fitting what she was looking for in a team, choosing Whitworth was an easy option.

“It kind of all worked out,” she said.

Her efforts led to academic and athletic recognition .

“I was shocked because I don’t do anything to be recognized,” Hoff said. “To be recognized is a huge honor.

“There are so many other incredible athletes – not just at Whitworth, but other girls that I competed with in the conference.”

Hoff has high expectations for herself, but realizes that other athletes have higher expectations for themselves as well.

“Especially in an individual sport, it’s a mental game. You’re constantly like, ‘Oh, I’m not as good as them,’ and, ‘Oh, I could be doing this to be better,’ ” Hoff said. “It was this year I finally just went, ‘You know what? I’m doing this for me and nobody else,’ and I found success with that.”

Despite the solidarity of the sport, Hoff’s team provided her support through the hard work they put in this season.

“If I could give the award to all the girls on the team, I 100% would because we all worked together and we all worked hard for that.”