Owls swimmer enjoys time in pool

February 20, 2018

When Emily Zink transferred from Brownstown Central to Seymour for her junior year, she decided to join the Owls swim team.

It became the perfect fit because she had always liked getting in the water.

“When I came to Seymour, I had a lot of friends on the team. I heard it was a fun sport, it got you in shape and the team was really involved, so I figured I would go for it,” Zink said.

“I enjoyed getting to know the sport because I had never been in it, and I didn’t really know much about it,” she said. “Now, it’s part of my life, and it’s something I’ve really come to enjoy, and I enjoy watching it now, too, instead of swimming myself.”

This season, her main events were the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, and she swam the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

“I liked the 100 free. My best time was 1:10,” she said. “Swimming the backstroke was really rough getting the change (to swimming on your back) and figuring out how to do it well.”

When she arrived at the pool for a meet, she focused on starts and turns during warmups.

“But also mentally, I would kind of have to think about my events and what I would have to work on, and if it was my strokes, I would really focus on strokes,” she said.

The daily practices were important to have success in meets, she said.

“They were extensive. It really gets a lot out of you,” she said.

When the team missed several days of practice in January because of the weather, she said that affected some swimmers.

“That set us back a little, but I think the team really took that and knew they had to work even harder to get back to where they were with those few days off,” she said. “I think it almost helped us out because we really tried more in practice than what we would have. We had just started to taper.”

For meets, Zink said she preferred to swim in the Owls’ home pool.

“The home meets were really fun because you want to represent your home team, and you had all your friends and family come in, and there was a huge crowd at each meet,” she said. “You got energy from them and your teammates, and it was always a lot of fun.”

Zink said she has a lot of good memories from her two seasons of swimming.

“I’ll remember my teammates because they were so much fun, and I’ll remember pushing myself trying to get better and the improvements that I made,” she said. “You learn so much, and you don’t realize it until you’re looking back. You learn so much from this sport and the people. The team is just so much fun. You learn a lot of respect for others and how to push yourself.”

Academically, Zink said she has liked attending Seymour High School.

“I’ve really enjoyed the people I have met, and I’ve enjoyed the size of the school because it’s so much bigger than what Brownstown was,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to experience a different school and a different setup.”

Dual credit and Advanced Placement classes have helped her a lot, she said.

She also goes to Seymour Animal Hospital in the afternoon and has a goal of becoming a veterinarian.

“I’ve gotten to experience stuff through work-based learning … and I’ve really enjoyed that,” she said.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Zink file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Name: Emily Zink

School: Seymour High School

Parents: Rick and Becky Zink

Sibling: Jacob

Sport: Swimming, two years

Organizations: Band, National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, church youth group

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