Emily Hong's Swim Lessons

Emily Hong was ten years old when she first started taking swim lessons. Now fourteen and in ninth grade at PALY High School, she is on a competitive swim team and spends six days a week preparing for the meets. Something that started as just a way to ensure that she did not drown, has now become her favorite activity.
Before she started swimming, Hong tried many other sports. The only other sport that she continued to play was basketball, but it did not have the same impact on her as swimming does. After only two seasons, Hong quit basketball and decided to devote her time to the swim lessons she had just begun. Her parents were supportive of this decision because they could already tell that she was more devoted to swimming.
Hong first started taking swim lessons at the Jewish Community Center, also known as the JCC. After only a few lessons, swimming had already become her passion. “I would want to swim everyday because I enjoyed it so much” Hong said. A few months later, she joined the swim team at the JCC because someone there had told her that she had a lot of potential. However, this swim team did not compete in any meets, so Hong left to find a more competitive team. She soon found and …show more content…
For the last four years, swimming has been her way of escaping this busy world and entering another world within the water. The friends she has made on her team have become an essential community in her life. They spend almost everyday together and know each other better than anyone else. They have all had to endure the intense workouts, the same defeats, and the same annoyance of having to shower right after practice. However, they have also experienced the same victories, the same joy of new records, and the same delight of getting to compete against yourself. They all chose this sport and the majority of them will continuing for many years to