For most residents of Florida, a trip to the beach on a Saturday morning entails lounging under the blazing sun while masked under layers of SPF 50. For theatre sophomore John Hench, a trip to the beach entails waking up at sunrise to practice his favorite sport: sailing.

“Sailing means the world to me,” Hench said. “It’s my pastime and it’s my favorite sport to do and I’d rather be on the water than anywhere else.”

While many people don’t find their passion until later in their lives, but at 11 years old Hench was introduced to his when his father signed him up for the Palm Beach Sailing Club. With hopes of just finding an extra hobby, he had no idea that sailing would soon become such a big part of his life.

“It took a week [for me to enjoy it], but I didn’t really get into sailing until I started sailing in Fort Lauderdale for practice,” Hench said. “As I [sailed] more, the more I got into it.”

Despite his experience in sailing, Hench continues to grow as a sailor and learn new techniques every time he gets out on the water. Some of these include making regular trips to the gym to build more muscle in his legs.

“You can do cross fit and you can just workout regularly [to train for sailing],” Hench said. “It’s good to have strong legs because you use that a lot and it’s also upper body but the majority is in the thighs.”

Hench puts his hours spent training in the gym to use every time he goes out to sail. He also participates in sailing competitions that test a sailor’s ability to race a boat.

“I sail every weekend, every Saturday and there’s a regatta once a month. A regatta is a sailing race,” Hench said. “It’s a one design boat so everybody has the same boat and you’re trying to sail the same boat, whoever is fastest. When the gun goes off, you go and you sail a course.”

Even with five years of sailing, Hench is still proving to himself and his family and friends that it takes time and dedication to rise to the top.

“Sailing is a difficult sport, and I haven’t been doing it as long as most people,” Hench said. “This year, I’ve been doing a lot better than in previous and basically it’s just compiling to get better and to just work at it.”