Having swum all his life, sophomore Jared Vu of the Varsity Lincoln Swimming Team, has accomplished more achievements than an average swimmer could imagine. Vu is a recognized swimmer throughout Pacific Swimming. He has competed in multiple swimming competitions outside of Lincoln, including the annual International Children’s Games, which are held in many different cities all over the world. The latest was held in Bahrain where Vu placed third in the 200 individual medleys.
Vu has been on Lincoln’s Varsity swimming team since his freshman year. Since then, he has helped the team to victories. During his time here at Lincoln, he has broken many records. On April 29th of this year the last high school swim meet was held at City College of San Francisco. There, Vu dominated in his events, breaking two of his own AAA records in the 100-yard butterfly (53.39 seconds) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.06).
Vu’s time in the 200-yard individual medley marks the first time in AAA history that a swimmer has broken the 2-minute mark. This amazing feat satisfied Lincoln’s swimming coach Billy Tam, as said in an interview.
Outside of Lincoln, Vu has his own set of swimming coaches. His head coach is Michael Wong, and his assistant coach is Billy Tam (head coach for Lincoln’s swimming team). Wong has taken Vu under his wing and has trained him for over nine years. During these nine years under head coach Michael Wong, Vu has made quite the reputation for himself by competing in statewide, countrywide, and international swim meets.
A regular day for Vu starts at 5:00 in the morning to begin practicing swimming at Rossi Swimming Pool. There, he trains with his head coach, Michael Wong. After one and a half hours of swimming, he goes to school where he somehow maintains an outstanding GPA despite his busy schedule. Vu earned a 3.87 on his most recent semester GPA. Then, he goes back to swimming practice with Lincoln’s team coached by Billy Tam.
Vu plans to continue swimming throughout his high school and college career, but is still pondering on whether he should continue it to a professional level or not.
Only one unique sports team here at Lincoln allows students to compete in multiple events, the Track & Field team. Track & Field provides students many events to choose from such as pole vault, long jump, hurdles, high jump, and many more. Also, the Track & Field team statistically works the hardest as they practice everyday of the week throughout the whole year.
This year’s Track & Field team contains a lot of talent in its rosters, both JV and Varsity. The Varsity Boy’s Track team is currently undefeated, wiping out any obstacle in their way. Also, many newcomers have made a nice addition to the Junior Varsity Track team.
“I was on the Track & Field team for Lawton in eighth grade and high jump was easy to me,” freshman Nick Hu said. “ But when I joined Lincoln’s team this year I noticed how many other people joined high jump and how good they are. Lincoln’ definitely has a talented team this year.
There is definitely no surprise as to why Lincoln has so much students containing with such talent. Coach Doherty has helped each member of the team during practices and trains them well. The Track & Field team practices year long even though their season began just a couple of months ago in February. Everyday the members of the Track & Field team go out on the field to practice for more or less than two hours in almost any weather.
The season will end for the Track & Field team in late May. Their last track meet will be on May 28th for All-City Finals. Support your Lincoln Track & Field team by going to their meets!
Made it to the all city finals to represent Lincoln High School. Their practices are not very strict either, since there is no official coach, only a sponsor for the tennis club, Andre Jordan. “We just play for fun,” said junior Eric Huang. “Usually we start right after school and play until it’s so dark that we can’t see the ball anymore.” Despite the lack of a professional coach, the players’ dedication to tennis makes Abraham Lincoln’s team one of the toughest teams in the region right now. Good luck to the Lincoln tennis team! They will move on to Northern California competitions to compete with other regional winners if they get past the city finals.
Abraham Lincoln High School is known for many sports; however some may not be aware of ALHS’s fencing team. The team comprises of nine students, with most of the members being underclassmen. They compete against other schools in the district. For clarification, unlike something like the kendo club, the fencing team is a team and not a club.
The team is led by Jarrett Mui, a senior. “I joined because I saw the Olympics in 2008 and thought it looked pretty cool” said Mui. Jarrett has helped recruit people into fencing, like Adrian Ngai, a sophomore. “I was recommended to the team by Jarrett” said Ngai. “I’ve been fencing since April of this year.” When looking for new members, Mui makes sure to “make sure the person has ambition for [fencing], otherwise its pointless.” Having lower class members on the team lowers chances of winning, but it’s something not exclusive to ALHS. “With a new team it's hard getting the wins, but the captain usually wins” says Mui.
Many qualities are required to succeed in fencing, though some can’t quite tell what makes them great at it. “I guess I just have a natural aptitude for it” says Ngai. Others are very certain how to excel in fencing. "Well fencing is a very psychological game. Whoever can maintain their cool the longest usually wins," says Mui. He is also involved in the martial arts club at ALHS, and the discipline he learns in that crosses over into fencing. According to Mui, discipline is the most important quality to have in fencing. "If you can't discipline yourself to maintain your composure, why even try?"