SWIMMING

14th April, 2021 by Minah S. (G11)

The swimming team in Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) is preparing themselves for the upcoming competition after spring break.

The KISAC (Korean International Schools Activities Conference) swimming tournament takes place in Branksome Hall Asia Jeju (BHA) in April since they are the only ones in GEC (Global Education Center) that have a suitable international standard swimming pool which is 50 meters. Each player in KISJ is required to participate in four events and a relay in this specific competition. Since the swimming team members are not sure whether they will be able to decide the stroke that they are going to participate in, they are trying their best to get comfortable in every single swimming strokes during the practice rounds.

There are a total of twenty people on the KISJ swimming team, composed of grade 9, 10, 11, and 12 students. Since the ultimate goal of the swimming practice is to develop teamwork and stabilize individual member’s swimming skills, they didn’t hesitate to use equipment like kickboards and hands of the team members. “The most strength-consuming but efficient exercise is called “Sink-O-Side”, said Evan A., “we combine activities, dryland exercises, and swimming skills in this exercise to maximize our swimming abilities.” The swimming coaches try to integrate the four strokes, tube-related activities, dryland, sink-O-side, and relay games all at one practice since they don’t have enough time until the competition at this point.

Swimming has four main strokes for some readers who do not know swimming at all: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. Freestyle is the most commonly known swimming method which engages chest and back muscle to generate the greatest force. Freestyle swimmers stir their arms like a windmill and kick with their legs to move forward. The position of the backstroke resembles the person who is laying down above the water; it engages back and hamstring muscles to help the person to recover after the intense workout. The method of moving forward is equivalent to freestyle swimming but the swimmer needs to face the ceiling this time. Breaststroke reminds people of the “frog position”, considering that it requires the usage of shoulders, chest, and lat muscles to strengthen the cardiovascular system. Finally, the butterfly stroke is known as the most intense workout based on the size of the movement; it can be the most efficient stroke to burn body fats and boost metabolism since it uses chest, back, core, and shoulder muscles.

Dennis S. has been a swimmer in KISJ for four years, but he still feels the pressure when there is a competition. Even though he is most comfortable in performing breaststroke strokes, there is a chance of him “not getting to implement the technique that (he) learned due to this policy.” However, there is a reason why this policy exists in the swimming team; students would practice the same stroke repeatedly in most of the games without it, which will not help them to develop as successful swimmers. “There is always the reason why the coaches have the rules,” said Dennis.

It was interesting to know that Evan A., one of the interviewers mentioned above, has been a swimmer since when he was in 7th grade, inspired by the powerful kicks and fast speed from the high school swimming team. That became his motivation to pursue his passion for swimming for five years in EVERY single season! (There are a total of three sports seasons in KISJ, and swimming is included in all three seasons.)

There are a lot of talented swimmers in KISJ and I think we, as the students of KISJ, need to support them by visiting their swimming competitions. Even though it might be a bit difficult to cheer them on the bleachers this time due to the COVID protocols and the place where the competition is holding place, how about sending them a heartwarming message before they enter the pool.