Junior Daniella Hawkins was only six weeks old when she was put in the water of a swimming pool for the first time. 

At two and a half years old she  excelled at swimming compared to other children.

“She was a really good at swimmer early on, by one and a half she was already water safe,” said  her mother, Catie Hawkins, an assistant principal at Cal High.

Since she learned how to swim at age five, Hawkins has been inseparable from the water.  She currently an eltire swimmer for Cal and the Pleasanton Seashawks, where she has swam for the past four years. 

“She is the most dedicated person I  know and is an extremely talented swimmer because of it,” said junior Taylor Crutchley.

To put her ability in perspective, the average human can swim a mile in 20-30 minutes. Hawkins can swim this distance in under seven minutes. 

All of Hawkins’ talents have been on display recently as she won on May 4 the EBAL title in the 500 freestyle by half a lap and lapped the rest of the field with a time of 4:51. She also placed third in the 200 free.

“Daniella has always worked so hard at practice and it’s her work ethic and talent that has made her the fastest swimmer I know and one of the fastest swimmers in the state,” said junior swimmer Julie Arnett.

Hawkins followed up her performance at EBALs by placing second and third at in the 500 free and 200 free, respectively, at the NCS Championships on May 12. She also helped Cal’s 400 free relay team place third. 

At the CIF State Championships in Clovis on May 18-19, Hawkins placed seventh in the 200 free and eighth in the 500 free. It was the second straight season Hawkins has finished in the top eight at state in both events. She also placed seventh in the 500 and 13th in the 200 as a freshman.

“I love swimming,” Hawkins said. “I love the sport, and  I’m just happy to be at the place I’m at.”

Hawkins’ swimming has reached international waters as her club team went to Singapore in October 2016 and Beijing in November of 2017 to swim for the World Cup series meets. 

She also had the opportunity to swim for the Eindhoven Cup, a series of youth tournaments for advanced swimmers in the Netherlands where she placed  sixth in the 1500 meter on April 13-15. Scouts from all colleges have been trying to recruit Hawkins. Michael Phelps former coach, Bob Bowman, is trying to start an elite swimming program at Arizona State University and has been heavily recruiting Hawkins. Bowman would be training Hawkins in similar distances as Phelps. 

Even with all this going on with her swimming career, Hawkins is able to balance both swimming and school.

“I’ve just learned to be good with time management,” Hawkins said. “I don’t have a lot of time to procrastinate.”

Hawkins has been working tirelessly to achieve her dream of swimming in the Olympics, and if she keeps up this pace she may reach this goal one day.