Commentary by Swimming World Intern Woohee Han<\/i><\/p>\n
Originally posted on Jan. 20, 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n PISCATAWAY \u2013 I spent three days as a reporter intern for Swimming World at the Berkeley Aquatic Club\u2019s annual CeraVe Invitational where I discovered the world of competitive swimming in an entirely different way. As I stood by the pool for more than two hours each day, talking with dripping wet and tired swimmers fresh from their races, as I endured the endless screaming and whistling of the coaches, I was reacquainted with the sport by experiencing it at the scene, instead of behind a television screen.<\/p>\n Before I arrived at Rutgers University for my three-day stint, I had always thought of swimming as a boring sport, at least from a spectator\u2019s point of view. Sure, it is quite entertaining to see who\u2019s ahead of whom, the back and forth of swimmers competing for the lead, and the beastlike roar of happiness and triumph of the champion. However, the endless laps of up and down the lane with not much more action than arms and legs waving fiercely against the water can get boring after a while. I always thought I could be having more fun watching a sport like basketball or soccer, which give people a sense of immediate satisfaction.<\/p>\n I have realized, however, that I have been neglecting the amount of work put into swimming, and how committed one has to be to excel in competitions like CeraVe and other major meets. On the first day of the meet, I was able to talk to a couple of swimmers about balancing their swimming career with academics and social life, two other vital components to a life of a teenager. After learning that their lives were in essence composed of only sleeping, eating, swimming and doing homework, I wondered if I would be able to do the same feat. I had the chance to reflect upon my own lifestyle, and how much easier I had it in my perceived hectic life.<\/p>\n It was simply amazing how they dealt with everything else outside the pool, but what awed me more was the group passion and fervor that were evident during competition. I had dismissed, or tried to dismiss, the loud yelling and the high-pitched whistling as annoying and incomprehensible. I could not understand why they had to constantly yell and whistle throughout the whole race. It was especially unbearable during the long-distance races, as my ears were soon fatigued, while the coaches\u2019 vocal chords were not. It was only by the end of the meet that I realized that it signified the amount of camaraderie that cannot be seen in any other sport. I was amazed by the strong connection between the coach and the swimmers, and among the swimmers as well.<\/p>\n Swimming is one of the most underappreciated and neglected sports for those who are not directly involved in it. Having hands-on experience with swimming for three days, I realized that there is more to it than what is displayed on television at the Olympic Games. After all, there is more to swimming than medals, Michael Phelps and tight swimsuits. The amount of effort, teamwork and passion that goes into swimming is often hidden beneath the surface, and it cannot be fully realized without being right in the middle of the action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commentary by Swimming World Intern Woohee Han Originally posted on Jan. 20, 2015. PISCATAWAY \u2013 I spent three days as a reporter intern for Swimming World at the Berkeley Aquatic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":120499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A View Of Swimming From A Non-Swimmer's Perspective","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[54103,6408,6302,716,142,25107,48],"class_list":["post-120496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-commentary","tag-2015-cerave-invitational","tag-berkeley-aquatic-club","tag-michael-phelps","tag-rutgers-university","tag-swimming","tag-swimsuit","tag-the-olympic-games"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n