The lion is considered the king of the jungle — but not because of where it lives (to those of you with bad geography, we have lions on mountaintops, too). Rather, the lion is given that title because of what it represents — leadership, dominance, and courage. At the top of the food chain, the lion commands respect through its confidence and strength.
One person who embodies these same traits is Women’s Swim Team Captain Corrine Hoang, the first Lion to be featured in Excalibur’s Beneath the Mane series. Born and raised in Ottawa, Hoang has been swimming since childhood. “My parents introduced me to the water early at our cottage,” she told Excalibur. “I grew up around water sports — wakeboarding, waterskiing, foil boarding — so aquatic life just became a part of who I am.”
According to Hoang, her biggest source of inspiration is her father. “Most people would say Michael Phelps or some kind of Olympian like that, but my dad is a 55-year-old man who is still up and going in his sports. He just recently learned how to do foilboarding,]he’s always active going on his wakeboard,and is still teaching me all my sports. He’s at the age where people should start slowing down, but he’s starting to learn more.”
Hoang also looks up to Zendaya, praising the multi-talented actress-singer-model. “I think she does it all…and she does it with such poise and is always so graceful. She’s very confident in herself, but not in an obnoxious way. “
When asked about her other motivators, Hoang spoke about her relationship with Swim Team Head Coach Brett D’Souza. “Especially for someone like me who’s out of town, Coach is really like our second dad — just somebody who’s always there to support you, motivate you, make sure you’re eating and staying healthy. He’ll always check up on us. Coach has this weird thing where he just knows every single time we’re having a bad day. He’s truly someone who motivates us in all aspects of our life — academics, sports, and personal.”
Speaking of personal lives, Hoang has a secret: t beyond the pool she’s also an actor and model. She even modeled at New York Fashion Week.
“I’ve been doing modeling and acting for about 4 years now,” she explained. Hoang has been in a total of 14 different commercials and TV shows, as well as one movie. She attributed her confidence in starting modelling to her acting background. “My agent came up to me one day and was like, ‘Corrine, you should get into acting,’ so I started off like any model would: working on my portfolio and taking pictures here and there. Eventually, my agent got contacted by a designer from Ottawa who was bringing her collection to New York. She brought only three people from Canada and I was one of them, so I was really honored that she chose me out of hundreds of people.”
Hoang, while being a swim captain, model, and actress, was also an all academic last year. She also works two jobs: one as a lifeguard and another for the government. How does she keep up with all that? “I like to stay organized and keep a tight schedule, but I also enjoy the feeling of being busy,” Hoang explained.
The definition of balance, Hoang keeps pushing the limits of what a student athlete can be. Leading in the pool, on the runway, and in the classroom, she’s proof that passion and organization can make anything possible.
You can catch Hoang and the Women’s Swim Team in action on Nov. 8 at the Laurier Open.
Which York Lion do you want featured next on Beneath the Mane? Email sports@excal.on.ca, or send a message to @talesfromexcalibur on Instagram.
