Section II Swimming 

Essay written by Shoonhsin Li, 2019 Scholar Athlete Award NYSPHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving

The winner, Shoonhsin Li, had an ironic thing happen to him.  He was disqualified in his event for a false start and was escorted off the swimming block by an official. 

The crowd boo’d because we all want to see the kids swim but those are the rules and so be it. 

 Next thing you see Mr. Li up on the bulk head with a group of other scholar athlete applicants as they read a segment of his essay about succeeding from failure. 

He wins the award only to shake the hand of an official, perhaps the same official who DQ'd him, I’m not sure and that’s more of a made for TV ending, but the crowd went crazy

but his essay really rings true.