IYSC SWIMS|SCIErs Won 2 Silver Medals and 3 Bronze Medals

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On February 25th and 26th, 2023, the postponed IYSC competition due to the pandemic was held as scheduled at the Shenzhen Swimming and Diving Hall.
The competition, which was postponed for three months due to the pandemic, finally ended successfully. It was the first IYSC series competition with spectators in recent years and the first competition of the year for the 2023 IYSC.

The competition lasted for two days and attracted 47 representative teams and 800 young swimming enthusiasts to participate. The competition included relay and individual events, grouped by the age of the participants, from the eight-year-old group to the over-fifteen group. Each age group had events such as 50 meters and 100 meters freestyle/breaststroke/butterfly/backstroke. The older age group also included 200 meters freestyle/individual medley and relay events. The competition was officiated by a team of judges holding official swimming referee qualifications from the Shenzhen Water Sports Association Arbitration Committee, with a total of 50 judges, including 5 international-level judges.

In the tense competition, the Shenzhen International Exchange Academy team won two silver medals and three bronze medals.

Outstanding Results

G2 Ken Chen

Bronze medal in 100m backstroke Silver medal in 50m backstroke

G2 Shirley Xiao

Silver medal in 50m butterfly Fourth place in 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle

G1 Tianna Wu

Fourth place in 100m backstroke Bronze medal in 50m backstroke

G2 Haley Li

Bronze medal in 200m freestyle

G1 Mark Xu

Sixth place in 50m butterfly

G1 Adam Ren

Top ten in 100m freestyle

I’m very honored to attend the IYSC competition with thousands of other fantastic swimmers. Due to lack of long-term training sessions, I decided to face this competition with a common heart and try my best, not imposing too much pressure on myself. Because of this, I experienced joy in attending this competition and achieved quite satisfying results. In the natatorium, I also met some excellent athletes. We chatted during the registration, and turned from unacquainted opponents to mates who encouraged each other. Maybe this is the charm of swimming.

Me as a “retired” athlete who is relatively rich in experience of swimming competition, returning to the competition did bring me some influences. Because of Covid-19 and some changes in my personal life, there have been a while that I didn’t take part in systematic training. My previous teammates have gone to different high schools, and I no longer had the motivation to continue training before I entered the swimming club. The purpose of joining the swimming club is that I want to make some new friends and regain the motivation to swim. In this case, when Fancy invited me to take part in the relay, I hesitated a bit and agreed.

Personally, I gained a lot from this competition. Due to the pandemic, the competition had been postponed for a long time and it was uncertain when it would be held. As a result, I had not trained for a long time. When I received the news that the competition was going to be held two weeks before it started, I was quite nervous. Fortunately, the 50-meter butterfly stroke that I registered for was a short-distance event, and I recovered quickly. In the two weeks before the competition, I went to the swimming pool whenever I had time, basically "sharpening my tools at the last minute". However, the good news is that my result was one second faster than my previous personal best, which was a small surprise for me in this competition.

For every team member who participated, this competition was a valuable experience. Everyone gained experience and the pandemic didn’t stop their passion for swimming and daily training. For students of SCIE, this competition inspired the participants and motivated them to complete their training more efficiently in the future and to strive for better results. Finally, it is hoped that more students will join the SCIE Swimming Team in the future!