GSIS 10 Year Anniversary Yearbook: Memories | Page 207

The swimming team really pulled themselves together due to the absence
of Coach Mircea. Specifically the returning team members and seniors have
stepped up to lead the team and keep them competitive for their meets.
Loukas Kang, junior, expressed that one strong positive to the main coach
being absent was that leaders in the team could step up to be the “brothers
and sisters” of the team. Loukas explained that this year specifically was a
great opportunity for the older students to show leadership as there were a
lot of freshman and even middle school swimmers on the team.
Loukas said that Jongwhee Jeon, senior and team captain, sh owed

strong leadership despite being unable to swim due to his injured hand.
“He still came out to every practice giving us words of encouragement or
coaching us, and serving as that leader and that person who would give us
support.”

“I was really glad that Jongwhee showed up to practice because a
lot of kids weren’t doing their flip turn [a turn done by flipping under the
water at the wall when doing freestyle and backstroke] and the coaches
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seemed to be missing the kids who weren’t doing them. Jongwhee
came along one day and said ‘Hey if you’re not going to do your flip
turns you’re going to be doing push ups’ and he actually enforced it,”
explained Hannah.
However, Jongwhee was not the only senior who stepped up for
the team. Wonjoon Lee, senior, explained that he would swim ahead
of the students and encourage them to catch up so that they don’t
slack off or fool around. Wonjoon mentioned that he didn’t want to
be a bad example to the Sophomores, Freshman, and even more so
for the eighth graders. “Even though I’m really tired, I try not to say
‘Honestly, I don’t want to do this,’” emphasized Wonjoon. “So I stay
positive and optimistic and encourage them.”

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1.

Deborah
Buesing practices her diving.
Before meets, swimmers practiced diving to
make sure they had correct posture. 2. Nicole Eggens takes a breath
during the butterfly. Because the butterfly
is the most physically demanding stroke, many
swimmers practiced it intensively before meets.
3. In the beginning of practice, Eric Lee and Joon Park
stretch their legs before entering the water. Stretching was
critical in prevent swimmers from pulling or damaging their muscles. 4. Brian Lee prepares to dive into the water during a meet. The
numerous diving practices after school paid off . 5. Mark Park rides on the
back of Andrew Kim during practice. Taking place after school every Tuesday to
Thursday, the practices allowed swimmers to bond and have fun together.
6. Deborah Buesing swims the backstroke. The backstroke is advantageous
because swimmers can breathe freely but disadvantageous because they
cannot sea where they are going. 7. Ziho Hwang pulls his arm out
during the freestyle stroke. Typically the first stroke learned by
beginner swimmers, freestyle combines front crawl with
flutter kick. 8. Woobin Cha makes his was to the basket
of flippers and finds his size as Caelan Hodge and
Brian Lee wait in line. Swimming fins help
increase leg strength as it forces the
athletes to kick more water.9. Mr.
Jung helps Loukas Kang use his
arm to swim up above the
water. Such exercises
were effective
in building
muscle.

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4/17/16 8:42 PM