Chet Seto is a first-generation Chinese immigrant. He and his family arrived in the United States in 1963, settling first in Sacramento, California, then moving to Phoenix, Arizona, two years later, where he attended grade school and high school. While at Alhambra High School, he was second academically in his class of almost 1000 students. He was active in services clubs, rising to being President of the Key club.
He was an outstanding 3 sport athlete lettering in cross country, basketball, and track. He holds the school record for 10 letters over 4 years (4 cross country, 2 basketball, 4 track). He was selected All District in cross country and track. He set and held the school record for 2 miles in track. In basketball, he was the starting point guard on the state championship team. He was selected “Honorable Mention All State” for Basketball his senior year.
Upon graduation from high school, he was a direct entry into USNA. It was during plebe summer that he was introduced to the sport of squash. Up to that time, he had never heard of squash. When he saw an exhibition match plebe summer, he knew that squash was going to be his sport.
As a newcomer to the sport and still learning the game, he did not make the plebe summer squash team. He would play at Halsey after the summer plebe team players were done with their daily practice. One day, Coach Art Potter came by and challenged Keith Davis, Jack Adolph and him to a game. Of the three of them, he was the only one able to beat him. The Coach saw that he had potential and spent the rest of the summer teaching him the game of squash.
With lots of after-hour practice, he made the plebe squash team and worked his way up to the number 2 position behind Randy Kahn. He made the varsity team youngster year starting at the number 5 position, and finishing the year at the number 1 position. He continued as the number 1 player his second and first class years, and won the Barb Tournament both years.
During his first-class year, he was able to beat several high ranked collegiate players, including an All American from Army during the regular season. In the intercollegiate singles tournament, he beat a tough Pakistani player from UC Berkley that got the attention of the coaches. He eventually lost in the quarterfinals to a player from Princeton. As a result of his wins against high ranked players during the regular season, and success during the singles tournament, he finished the year ranked number 9 in the country by the coaches. The top 10 ranked collegiate players (including players from Canada, US, and Mexico) are considered All-Americans for that year.
In summary, he went from not knowing what squash was plebe summer, to playing in the number 1 varsity position after two years, and being selected All-American (ranked in the top ten of North America) after 4 years.
In his private life, he started a small government contracting business based in Ventura, CA in 1999. He and his wife, Yolinde, relocated from Ventura, CA, to Annapolis in 2017 to develop a business base on the east coast after Jay DeLoach, who was managing his Herndon, VA office retired. He quickly got involved with Navy squash again as an active supporter, and is currently chair of the Friends of Navy Squash. He still continues to play squash at Halsey on a regular basis, and plays in the annual Alumni Match against Midshipmen every year.
He is married to the lovely and beautiful Yolinde from South Africa. He has a son, Tim, and daughter, Heather, both residing in CA, and four step-children, Lidia, Frances, Spyro, and Geroad living in the United Kingdom and Romania, and has 6 step grandchildren.