Olympics Medallists Come to ISF
On 24th May, under the aegis of our ISF Sportverein, our school was delighted to host a swim clinic, conducted by two Olympic swimmers, Aaron Peirsol and Kim Vandenberg, Mr. Slesser welcomed the two swimmers to ISF and Mr. Phillip Tissue from the US Consulate also gave a welcoming speech for these two distinguished representiatives of US sport.
Aaron Peirsol spent ten years competing for the US national tream and competed in three Olympic Games and five World Championships. Aaron won seven Olympic Medals - five gold and two silver, and eleven World Championship gold medals and three silver medals. Primarily a backstroker, Aaron still holds the individual World Records in the 100 and 200 meter backstrokes and, along with three other teammates, the 4x100 World Medley Relay record as well.
Kim Vandenberg is an Olympic Bronze Medallist, Pan American Games, Gold Medallist, and World Championship Silver Medallist. Kim specialises in both the freestyle and butterfly strokes and has over twenty years of racing experience. Kim has travelled the world for the past decade racing and teaching swim clinics to International schools all over Asia, Europe, and within the United States. Kim trained for the Olympics at UCLA during her studies. Post collegiately she swam at CAL, in the north of Italy, and in Marseille, where she developed a greater awareness of alternative training methods for elite swimmers.
During their clinic in ISF, Aaron and Kim shared their favourite drills and race strategies for backstroke and butterfly and provided water demonstrations in two sessions for 47 students from Grades 2-12. There were two different sessions, one for juniors and the other for seniors. Students were coached through the drills by our Olympians on both strokes
and had the rare opportunity to race with the two Olympians.
Students were also able to meet the Olympians informally, and were able take pictures of themselves wearing an Olympic gold medal. The State of Hessen Swim Coach was delighted with this unique initiative and has encouraged us to stage another swim clinic next year. We are staying in touch with both swimmers and the school and the ISF Sportsverein would indeed like to offer another such event during our next school year.
