Last year, head coach Tom Jager needed to find a fresh new face to help WSU women’s swimming to achieve a competitive edge in the breaststroke. That face appeared as sophomore Frederikke Hall.  

“It’s always been a goal and dream for me to go to the U.S. to study and pursue swimming,” Hall said.  “It was such a big opportunity, so I couldn’t say no.”

As a student in Denmark, Hall strived to earn an education and swim for a university. However, she knew this would present a challenge due to the structuring of the Denmark school system.

“(In Denmark) we don’t have school and swimming or sport combined,” she said. “I had to choose between going to college and not swim as much or only swim because it’s hard to do both, and here (WSU) I can do both school and swimming.” 

Hall said Jager wanted her on the Cougar swimming team so much that he asked senior Emma Johansson to help assist in the recruiting process. 

Since Denmark only has club swimming teams, she found the transition to the WSU swim team extremely challenging. Hall said she swam for two swimming clubs in Denmark, going through six different coaches within in six years.  

“It’s much more individual than a team sport (in Denmark),” said Hall. “It was a big change for me to come here (WSU) where swimming was a team sport because I was just use to taking care of myself and only focused on what I had to do in the pool and out of the pool. Now, it’s not only me, it’s the whole team.” 

At 15 years old Hall moved away from her home in Denmark to a sports boarding school. She said it was rewarding to swim every day and receive individual attention from coaches to strengthen her swimming ability.  Today, she attributes her boarding school experience to her hard work ethic in and out of the pool.  

“I believe it made me more confident about myself and I probably had to grow up younger than normal people,” said Hall. “You learn a lot when you move away from home and you have to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for everything.”  

Hall also comes from an athletic family. Her father and sister are both avid sailors, while her mother competitively danced.

Hall said her sister has a tremendous impact on her life. 

“She’s always been a role model and idol for me because she’s older than me,” she said.  “I always thought she was really good at her sport and I wanted to be good at my sport.”    

Due to NCAA rules, Hall sat out last year until mid-way through the season, but said the thought of giving up never crossed her mind. 

“I started swimming when I was twelve years old, which is really late compared to normal swimmers, but I just knew that was what I wanted when I started,” said Hall. “I developed really (quickly) and got really fast.  I just found my talent for swimming.”