Regional and national competitors at 新葡京app

We are thrilled to see our students pursuing excellence inside and outside of school. Below are the stories of three high-performing student-athletes who are grabbing headlines in the sports of synchronized skating, 竞技滑雪和游泳:

Giada吉梅内斯

1月20日, eighth grader Giada吉梅内斯 takes to the ice in The Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, the East Coast competition that will determine if her team will move to Nationals.

The ECMS middle school student has been competing for four years in this relatively obscure sport, a sport that combines figure skating with what she describes as “kind of like the New York City Rockettes, 要求全精度.”

Her athletic pathway started in an unlikely place, with an ice skating birthday party. She shares, “I found it so [difficult] that I became obsessed to conquer the challenge. 所以我要求我的父母给我上课.” Moving through a progressively difficult lesson regimen and into individual figure skating, she was finally introduced to synchronized ice skating at a skate camp in The Codey Arena in West Orange.

对希门尼斯来说，花样滑冰是一项热爱的工作. “通常情况下，我一周练习四天. 随着比赛的临近，练习也越来越多. 星期二，我早上4:50起床.m. 早上5:55-7:25的私人课程.m. 在新泽西州哈肯萨克市. 我脱下溜冰服，换上校服, 在车里吃早餐, 并在8:15钟前到达ECMS.”

除了她自己的实践, Jimenez clocked more than 100 hours of volunteer time for Codey Arena Skate Camp this summer. “It was easy for me to do because it was fun and I love to skate,” she says.

这位运动员的下一步是什么? Although growing in demand, synchronized ice skating is not yet an Olympic sport. Her hope one day is to try out for the Princeton University Synchro Team.

“Friends are often curious and ask why do I torture myself with 4:45 a.m. wake-ups and then voluntarily go and freeze myself at an ice rink during the middle of the winter season. 我想如果你这么说的话，听起来确实像是折磨. But I tell them every time, call me a little crazy, but I just love skating. Synchro is fun…And I’m super excited because I just landed my first clean, 上星期一我吃得很脆. 我用了将近一年的时间来研究这个策略.”

薇薇恩·Vetlov

薇薇恩·Vetlov’s largest athletic accomplishment to date happened at the end of the season last year, where she competed in a Northeast downhill skiing competition and came in first place female for the state of New Jersey in slalom, and fourth place female for the state of New Jersey in giant slalom. 竞争的加剧, 被命名为Francese Piche邀请赛, is a multi-day event held at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire and features a vetted list of competitors from 9 divisions within the USSA Eastern Region.

虽然地区竞选要到3月才开始, 维特洛夫希望能有另一个强劲的表现, 并且正在寻求更好的时机. 除了赛季末的比赛, she regularly competes in New Jersey events against 50+ athletes, 并最终名列前茅. Like Jimenez, her routine involves four days of practice during the season. Outside of the winter season, she completes dry land training.

Vetlov sees a connection between her sport and the school’s core values. 除了追求卓越, she relays that equipment necessary for each competition has taught her to develop responsibility.

In addition, “Skiing actually helped a lot with my school performance. Talking with my other ski friends, they also mentioned how skiing helped with school. For me, skiing is a way to just take a second and enjoy what’s going on around you. This helped with school because skiing just calmed me and freed my mind,” says Vetlov.  

尼希米Rhee

作者:Taline Madalian, ECHS新闻系学生

Junior 尼希米Rhee, also known as Nemo, clearly lives up to his name. 作为一名竞技游泳运动员, Nehemiah has been working his way to the highest rankings in the state and nation for the past 11 years.

五岁的时候, Nemo began swimming and has continued to this day on the Wyckoff YMCA Sharks swim team. 通过严格的养生和决心, 尼莫已经进入了新泽西最高级别的比赛.

全年都在游泳, his weekly routine includes seven days of two and half hours of swimming and one hour of lifting after. 周日，尼莫必须从早上五点半开始上课.m. 直到8点.m. 

Nemo wants to pursue swimming in college, but will likely stop swimming competitively after college. 他说, “I love the aspect of being able to get in the water with my friends because while it is competitive, 它还教会了你一些人生课程，比如自律, 管理你的时间, 要有耐心.” His favorite memory is getting his first national qualification time as he worked very hard for it, and had previously failed six times by two-tenths of a second. 正相反, his worst moments include whenever he loses because while he is grateful to be placed at these meets, he does not like the feeling of knowing that someone is better than him, 因此，他总是努力做到最好.

He has the aspirations to be in international meets, but has not qualified yet. At a recent competition, he had the opportunity to make a name out of himself, and he succeeded. In the 100 butterfly, Nemo obtained a time that ranked him second in New Jersey. In the past, he has gone to a total of 5 nationals, which are twice a year in August and April. 在100蝶泳中，他在全国排名第259位.

Nemo adds, “I can hold my breath for 3 minutes,” almost as long as the real Nemo!