Not a day goes by where LeGrand Pound doesn’t think about swimming.

“I really love to swim,” Pound said. “I hate it sometimes, because I’m like, ‘Oh my god, the three-hour practices, the two-a-day sessions, I want to quit,’ but then I get to a meet and it’s all worth it.”

A sophomore at Sacred Hearts and a competitive swimmer for Pac-Five and the prestigious Kamehameha Swim Club, Pound found solace in the water at a young age by using swimming to alleviate stress.

“When I think of if I tried to quit swimming, I’d probably be a depressed person,” Pound said. “I don’t think I could ever quit.”

Quitting was never really an option for Pound, anyway. It wasn’t just that she loved swimming and never wanted to stop, it was also because her mother, also named LeGrand, was her first coach.

“She has always loved swimming,” the mother said. “Sometimes she wasn’t as motivated, and being the mom, it was really hard for me to yell at her and then not have her go, ‘But mom …’ you know? But one thing I can say is that she has always loved it and the reason I got into coaching was only because they had no coach at that point of time because somebody had just quit. But she showed a love for swimming that I have never seen.”

The sophomore said that she began swimming when she was 7, but didn’t swim competitively until 9, when she began swimming everyday instead of just once a week.

She has a great support system in place with her mother and family, as well as her coaches, but Pound finds motivation within herself to become even better.

“She actually lives to swim right now,” the elder Pound said. “And I know that sounds sad and sounds like she’s just unifocal, but she loves it. She does well in school because we told her that if she didn’t do well in school, she couldn’t swim.”

Pound sees swimming as a reward for her hard work in the classroom, and she excels at both. Not only is she an honor student at Sacred Hearts, but she’s one of the fastest swimmers in the state. Her titles in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle at last year’s state championships show how talented Pound is and, according to Pac-Five first-year head coach Matthew Tanigawa, she has no intention of giving it up anytime soon.

“I looked up all the past results from last year just to kind of see who might be coming in and I saw her as a freshman,” Tanigawa said. “She won the 100 and 200 at states, so the expectations coming in as a sophomore shouldn’t be any different. I’m sure, in her mind too, she doesn’t plan on giving up that crown until she graduates.”

Entering her sophomore campaign after preseason wins in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at the 39th annual Dorothy Aki Invitational on Dec. 30, Pound knows that she has a target on her back for the rest of her high school career.

Even though she wants to win each meet she competes in, Pound is conscious that she is alone in the pool, and her biggest competition is in her lane. It really doesn’t matter how fast or slow the competitors swimming next to her are.

“I don’t know if it’s more about placement at this stage,” Pound said. “It’s more about getting the times that I want.”

Swimming is often referred to as an individual sport. But oftentimes, it’s Pound’s teammates and coaches who offer her the most encouragement moving forward.

“I would honestly say the reason she has that deep love for swimming is because the people around her,” Pound’s mother said. “She loves these people (at Pac-Five); she loves the coach and the two Flanagan brothers (Kamehameha Swim Club coaches John and Kevin). She just loves them. She’ll do anything for them. If I can’t get her to do something, I write them and they get her to do it. Even if it’s something at home, they have that kind of power over her because she knows that they have her back, and that helps motivate her.”

THE HIGH SCHOOL TOP 10

Boys Basketball

Also receiving votes: University 6, Kailua 5, Kahuku 3, McKinley 1, Waiakea 1, Konawaena 1.

Girls Basketball

Also receiving votes: Mililani 7, Honokaa 4, Nanakuli 3, Leilehua 2.

TOP PERFORMERS

Boys

Aukai LiLeikis, Punahou swimming

He broke a meet record in the 200-yard individual medley at the Dorothy Aki/Kalani Invitational. Lileikis’ time of 1:49.01 surpassed the mark set by ‘Iolani’s Kacy Johnson in 2010. Lileikis also placed first in the 100-yard backstroke and was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

Girls

Ciana Rivera, Castle soccer

The freshman scored three goals against Farrington, giving her seven goals in her past two matches.