Stay In Your Lane!

At IASAS in Manila last year, the boys impressively medalled at 2nd place. It came down to the last few races to decide the places, but they ultimately pulled through and came out of the pool with silverware. This year, they are looking to go even further than last year, and finish within the top 2. 

The boys have been training extremely hard over the past 5 months. Jackson Koehler (12), a senior captain, has said that “I think we have gotten a lot stronger since last year and are prepared to swim our best. We follow very “technique oriented”sets so we can get our swims almost perfect everytime we swim.” 

Koehler is driven to keep these last weeks of training intense for the team, and get his hands on that gold medal at his final home IASAS hosted here at ISB. 

Jamie Jenviphakul (12), another senior captain, thinks that “The training has been tough with us having multiple practices a day. We always come home exhausted but whatever we do makes us faster. I think our other captain Jackson would be the person to always look for if you are feeling unmotivated. He’s a fast swimmer, but he carries the team mentally. He will always push and motivate the team in practice and be the loudest to cheer on our swimmers in competitions.”

He, similar to Koehler, is determined to keep his team working hard, and aims for that gold medal at IASAS. 

Coaching the ISB swim team is a tough job, as you have to be fully committed 5 days a week from 5am in the weightroom all the way to 5pm in the pool. Coach Corry Day, who has been coaching the ISB swim team for many years, believes that “Training this year has been great. August to start of Season 2 saw 100 % of our boys team training and all but 2 of our girls. When Season 2 started we had the two girls join full time and things just got better and better.”

Coach Day continues: “We did very well at Exchange in Singapore and our girls squad won top honors at our Swimfest meet that saw over 1000 swimmers visit ISB.  We have a leadership team made up of our Seniors and some of our Juniors, but we have learnt over the years that every single swimmer has to be 100% responsible for all training sessions and all competitions. There are no bench team for swimming at IASAS, everyone swims and everyone needs to be at their best if you are going to succeed.” 

Coach Day, along with both male captains, believes that they have the potential to win IASAS this year, and the numerous hours of training will pay off.

Similar to the boys, the girls also medalled last year in Manila, coming in at 3rd place. It was a very close-cut end, with the point coming down to the wire. This year, they intend on getting that gold medal and they believe  is within their reach with the amount of talent they have and hard work they’ve put in.

Tonwaan Apiratikiat (10), a first year varsity and IASAS swimmer, thinks that “We’ve begun tapering after the break so the practices are more focused on sprints and technical aspects such as turns, breakouts and starts. Although there is some tension as we near IASAS, the team’s been supporting each other through every practice. We have a fairly young team compared to last year, with only one senior. Although I didn’t go to IASAS last year, I feel like the team is a lot closer this year. Everyone is very supportive of each other, and it’s always a lot of fun being with them.”

She intends to finish strong at IASAS, and has faith that the countless hours of hard work they’ve put in will propel them to that gold medal, which for this team is completely achievable.

   Our boys and girls swim teams have put in a tremendous amount of work starting from August all the way to the 2nd season IASAS. We should all go out and show our support and hopefully, bring home the gold medal for both teams.