Go Green for Tu B'Shevat

Senior Elli Cohn is the founder and captain of the CJHS swim team. Elli, who also ran cross-country in the fall, is headed to Muhlenberg College next year. Senior Yaakov Calamaro has been on the swim team for two years. A year-round athlete, Yaakov was captain of the cross country team in the fall and plays on the tennis and Ultimate frisbee teams in the spring. Elli and Yaakov were asked about their experience on this year's swim team, which is coached by Lee Cohn and Michael Weiss.

Why did you join the CJHS swim team?
Elli: I started the swim team last year because I missed being on a swim team. I thought it would be great to be on a sports team that I love and that fit my time schedule. It was also an amazing way to become friends with people from different grades. It also helped that my dad agreed to be the coach...

Yaakov: I read that swimming is the greatest workout a person can get. Also, because I was playing a sport every season of the year except the winter, I wanted to add to it. Growing up, my father would pay me one dollar for every 20 laps I completed at my grandmother's pool. This was a chance to see if that ended up doing anything for me.

What motivates you to swim?
Elli: I love the feeling I get after I finish a hard race. There is nothing better than looking at the clock and seeing my best time. I love getting into the rhythm of swimming; my mind can wander and it is my time to just think.

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Yaakov: I find that in the freezing temperatures of winter, the one thing I would most not want to do is the best feeling thing I can do. That is to jump into a freezing pool of water and start swimming. My mind rests at ease when I swim, and I don't have to worry about the hours of other work I still have to get done. Also, I won't beat around the bush: I like an excuse to eat a lot. I've begun realizing that because I have a sport every season of the year, my diet is always well over the recommended daily allowance. I'm starting to realize now that I must always play a sport; otherwise, it's obvious that I would gain weight at a rapid speed, which is motivation enough to keep me ahead of my body's curve. I also love the feeling right after I'm done swimming--not the tired feeling, but the sense of accomplishment.

Tell me about your favorite swim team memory?
Elli: My favorite swim team memory is actually from this past meet at Lake Forest Academy. Being captain of the team, it always makes me proud when swimmers improve. At this past meet, Adam Rudolph swam the 500- yard freestyle. The entire race he was swimming neck and neck with another swimmer from Lake Forest. The last 50 yards the crowd went wild and I have never been so excited to see one of our swimmers work so hard. That race truly showed how far we have come over the past two years.

Yaakov: This has happened more than once. I was swimming laps and fell into the rhythm of the water and lost myself in my own thoughts. A few seconds later.....BAM! I slammed head on into Reby, who was headed in the opposite direction. I had moved over my lane into hers. Reby has always survived, thank God.

Organized athletics have been a big part of your life at CJHS. What role do you anticipate that athletics will play in your post-CJHS life?
Elli: Since I have participated in sports teams in high school, I definitely intend to play a sport next year in college. I will attend Muhlenberg College next year, and I plan to run cross-country there. (And swim in my free time, of course!)

Yaakov: As I said before, athletics will have to play a big role in my life, or I will lose the balance I have maintained for years. I know I will also continue athletics because I like to be a part of a team, and know that I'm backed by my friends and competitors.

Regarding Michael Phelps' recent indiscretions, do you believe he is being too severely penalized or not punished harshly enough?
Elli: Michael Phelps can continue to be a role model for us swimmers despite his recent indiscretions. What Michael does outside of the pool is his own business. We can still learn much from his swimming technique.

Yaakov: Well, I take this from two different perspectives. I say both, because on one hand the more penalized he is, the less likely he or someone else will commit such an act again. On the other hand, Phelps is an athlete in a new generation. Every person has a video camera on them all the time, thus any indiscretion committed by any athlete can instantly be turned against them. The crime he committed is quite common and most people don't get caught for it. He happened to be an athlete with the spotlight on him in an age where the spotlight is more dangerous than ever before. But personally I like seeing people get punished-- so burn him. It gives me a better chance of taking his place in the Olympics someday!

What do you think about through the monotony of swimming lap after lap?
Elli: Swimming can become monotonous, but I love distance swimming. You get in a zone and you become a machine. Your strokes are long and graceful and each turn improves. After awhile you don't even realize that you are working hard.

Yaakov: This is one of the best parts of swimming for me. I often like to think about random questions of life and more personal aspects to my own life. While swimming I think about the hundreds of theories I constantly develop about life, about God, about matter, about the tiny shine of light you see in a person's eye when a light bulb is not far away. I plan out my time, consider how to handle issues and drama going on. It seems to me that thinking while swimming is even easier than thinking in the bathroom (which is, of course, a close second).