San Jose Mercury News must be trying to corner the market on Asian-American Olympians. Last week, they profiled Kevin Tan. This week, they switch their focus to Tara Kirk. She’ll attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games this Sunday at the swim trials.

Qualifying for the Beijing Games has special meaning for Kirk, whose mother, Margaret, is Chinese-American. She [Tara] and sister Dana, also an elite swimmer, didn’t have strong ties to their Asian roots while growing up on Puget Sound.

“I know I am Chinese,” said Margaret, an electrical engineer who once served on the Bremerton School Board. “Tara doesn’t look Asian. For her, she had to discover it herself.”

By “discover”, her mother meant Tara’s sudden predilection for Tap-X. Mmmm mmm. Everyone loves bubble tea.

If you read the article, you’ll realize that a) Kirk attended Stanford University, presumably on a swim scholarship, b) earned a master’s degree in anthropological sciences with a thesis entitled “Reflections: Using Avian Influenza to Investigate the Pandemic of 1918.”, c) was a Rhodes Scholar finalist in 2005, and d) she may qualify for the Olympics on Sunday and eventually bring home gold medals.

Suddenly, that 3.0 GPA you’ve been so psyched about doesn’t look so hot now. Plus, the closest you’ll ever come to the Olympics is rearranging your onion rings into the Olympic symbol. Fatty.

Former Stanford swimmer Kirk enters new waters in Beijing [San Jose Mercury News]