Dec. 9, 2011

By Megan Roehm

The University of Cincinnati swimming and diving team is in the middle of another season and fans are seeing some undeniable talent among the men and women. One of the standouts this season is freshman Helena Pikhartova, from Prague, Czech Republic.

Before coming to UC, Pikhartova was ranked in the top 100 in the world in the 100 breaststroke. She swam for SK Motorlet Prague, represented Czech Republic at 2010 European Championships where she placed 11th in the 50 breaststroke and finished 18th in the 100 breaststroke.

In her first year at Cincinnati, Pikhartova recently broke the UC record in the 200 breaststroke, which is a great accomplishment, especially as a freshman. According to head coach Monty Hopkins, Pikhartova works very hard in her swimming and he was not at all surprised by this triumph.

"I think winning the 200 surprised her more than me, because she has always thought of herself as best at the 50, next the 100 and the 200 was a bit of a reach," Hopkins said. "But I think she was definitely pleased with her performance."

Last weekend, she swam at the USA Winter Nationals and she qualified for the European Championships. She did her best 200-meter breaststroke there and was very close to her best time from two years ago in the 100.

Hopkins credits her hard work and dedication for the success she is having this year.

"She is a very disciplined person who is very serious about what she is doing," he said. "She listens well and has a good concept of what she is here to do."

Hopkins said as an athlete she has a lot of talent and does a great job with her technique. He describes her as "a joy to work with" and "a consistent, honest and ambitious athlete." Her biggest strength is her discipline, which Hopkins said, makes her easy to work with.

"With Helena, if she is supposed to do 10 of something and there is nobody standing there counting, she will still do 10," he said. "She is very disciplined and very focused and she's got a lot of physical skills that she doesn't take it for granted. She is very modest."

Aside from her role as an athlete, Hopkins said she is intelligent, well liked and a good teammate. She is studying physics and after receiving her undergraduate degree, she wants to continue her education. She works as hard in school as she does in swimming and it pays off.

"She is easy to work with because she is very dedicated," Hopkins said. "She comes in and goes about her business and does a great job at whatever it is she is doing."

Overall, Hopkins is very pleased with Pikhartova, her good attitude, dedication and reliability. He thinks that throughout her career at UC and after, she will continue to succeed at everything she does because she is the type of person to keep working until she achieves her goal and keeps working from there. He said he believes she will continue to improve each year and she will be happy with what she has done.

"I see her as a very strong leader by example in this sport and academically," Hopkins said. "It almost sounds to good to be true, but that's OK because she deserves to be regarded that way based on the way she works and the way she does everything."