An injury caused a delay in Hank Yan's club swimming summer season.

Charting a course into the hazardous wars of pickup basketball, Yan sustained a broken finger.

Breaking away from a structured life defined by incredible academic proficiency, All-America standing as a swimmer and community service, the valedictorian of the Thousand Oaks High Class of 2007 made a point of exploring ordinary life experiences.

"The last two years I sort of questioned what I really wanted to be doing," said Yan. "I was missing out on a lot of parties and activities at school. Friends were getting involved in science research at UCLA or school functions.

"I tried to sample whatever I have been missing. Occasionally, especially this year after CIF (swimming finals), I would hang out with friends and go to the beach. "

For The Star's Boys' Scholar-Athlete of 2006-2007, high school has been far from ordinary.

More like extraordinary.

Ranked No. 1 in a class of 609, Yan had a cumulative GPA of 4.72.

Remarkably, Yan scored 2,370 on the SAT with perfect 800s in verbal and math. Of the 10 advanced placement tests that Yan took, all came back with 5s, the highest ranking possible.

SAT exams reflect not so much one's knowledge as how well you know to take a test, Yan said.

"Accuracy is so important. I had been taking standardized tests since fourth grade, so it was comfortable," he said. "The part I struggled on was the essay, which is a little bit different than a standardized test.

"The AP is more about broad knowledge. You can miss a lot of questions and still get a 5. There is not as much pressure to be perfect. I always felt well prepared by my teachers."

Outside the classroom, Yan excelled as a swimmer. He placed third in the 100-yard freestyle at the 2006 CIF-Southern Section Division II swimming finals, met National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association All-America time standards as well as USA Swimming National Top 16 lists.

There was not much time for outside activities in Yan's structured world.

Monday through Friday, Yan was in class from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. That left 2 to 4 p.m. for homework assignments not completed in class. From 4 to 7 p.m., Yan trained with his club swimming team. The bedroom lights were off at 8 p.m.

"My junior year was the toughest," said Yan. "I was taking six AP classes. At the same time, I was trying to get certain swim times so that I could be recruited by schools. There was pressure at both ends."

He was singularly focused on the deck of a pool.

"One of my greatest strengths was that I could get up for a big race," said Yan. "If I knew that I was going to get some competition, I could rise to the race."

In his sophomore year, Yan was a member of Thousand Oaks' winning 400 free relay and runner-up 200 free relay as well as placing fourth in the 100 free and 14th in the 200 individual medley.

"That changed the game for me," said Yan. "I was not sure how far that I could go. After that season, I started setting higher goals for myself."

Life wasn't all class work and swimming practices to Yan.

On Thursdays, he would skip trips to the pool for volunteer work at Los Robles Hospital, where he has donated more than 470 hours of service.

"It was important to stay balanced," said Yan.

As a volunteer, Yan was assigned jobs such as delivering blood to different departments, carting food and talking to patients.

"You also meet kids from different schools," he said. "I'd meet volunteers from Westlake, La Reina and Thousand Oaks. You get another perspective."

The perspective changes dramatically next fall when Yan enrolls at Harvard.

"When I visited, I saw an active campus," Yan said. "You see Type-A personalities; aggressive personalities. That is an environment that I want to be in. I've done so much better when I am looking up to people."

The Harvard men's swimming program has produced 10 NCAA individual and relay champions.

"Harvard can take me as far as possible," said Yan. "The program has the right balance between swimming and academics."