A session in the pool and a lesson for life

Former U.S. Olympic gold medalist Christina Teuscher, right, teaches autistic swimmer Kim Jin-ho at the Busan Sajik Indoor Swimming Pool.

Last Tuesday, a mild spring day, a 21-year-old autistic swimmer cleaved the cold water at the Busan Sajik Indoor Swimming Pool.
He was on his usual routine, with one important difference. A former Olympic gold medal winner came to the pool and gave the swimmer, Kim Jin-ho, a special lesson.
Christina Teuscher, 29, from the United States, was a member of the women’s national relay team when she won a gold medal in the 4x200 meter freestyle at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Additionally, she captured a bronze medal in the 200 meter individual medley at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Currently, she is an English teacher at EF Education First, a global education institute founded in Sweden.
Teuscher heard about Kim, who uses swimming to help him deal with autism, from her Korean co-workers. She was impressed by his story, and decided to visit Busan to meet him.
Teuscher was completely impressed when she heard about Kim’s hard training. His coach said that the swimmer spends four hours each day in the pool.
He also invests another 90 minutes in strength training.
“Wow! How does he swim for four hours a day without any rest? How can he concentrate during such extensive training? He has a strong body and the power of concentration,” Teuscher said. “When I was an active swimmer, I only spent two hours swimming each morning and another two hours in the afternoon.”
After the American educator watched Kim’s swimming style for a while, she jumped into the pool to start helping him develop his stroke. Even though she had planned to teach him for one hour, she spent more than two hours teaching Kim American training methods.
“Kim has good swimming technique,” she said. “If he changes the position of his arm, I am sure that he will become a better swimmer.”
Kim is scheduled to take part in the eighth European Swimming Championship for the disabled. The championship will be held in Poland in August. The young swimmer won two gold medals in the men’s 200 meter backstroke at the world swimming competition in 2005 and 2007.

Kim, left, and Teuscher strike a pose in front of the pool building. By Hong Joo-hee

Outside the swimming pool, Teuscher, an Ivy League graduate, gives Kim a lesson on life. She emphasized that swimmers must prepare for a future that outlasts their sports careers.
Teuscher, who majored in psychology, had several scholarship offers from universities with strong swimming programs during her high school years, but when Columbia University got involved in the recruiting process, the athlete couldn’t say no because of the school’s strong academic program.
“Swimming is one of the challenges in my life. However, swimming is not everything to me because I can’t remain in first place forever,” she said. “I believe that I need to gain various experiences to prepare for my future.”
After graduating from Columbia in 2000, Teuscher went to Insead (the European Institute of Business Administration) in France.
Born in 1978 in New York, Teuscher was a two-time All-American and four-time NCAA champion, winning a total of 12 Ivy League titles.
She tried to draw on some of her experiences in her meeting with Kim.
After three hours of training, Teuscher gave Kim a hug. He responded by saying, “Teacher, I love you.”

By Hong Ju-yeong JoongAng Ilbo [spark@joongang.co.kr]