Swimming
Favorite memory competing in sports: Pennridge two medley relay breaking school records
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Having my goggles break right before my race last year
Music on Playlist: Anything to get me ready for my race
Future plans: Swim and study at Virginia Tech this fall.
Words to live by: “Never put a limit on anything”
One goal before turning 30: Go as far as I can in the sport of swimming
One thing people don’t know about me: I used to play soccer at the age of 5. I was very bad at soccer.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Schoolwork plus swimming has equaled success for Pennridge senior Joseph Hong.
You could say, though, that was also a process of elimination.
Dropped from the equation was another word beginning with “S” – soccer – as Hong found out at a young age that he was, more or less, allergic to the sport.
With an eye toward the upcoming PIAA state meet and an opportunity to swim at the next level at Virginia Tech, the breaststroke specialist can have a sense of humor about it now.
“I was awful,” he recalled. “My parents took me out of it. I wasn’t having a good time. I was embarrassing myself. I was just like all little kids, trying out all different sports. I tried out a little bit of golf, a little bit of tennis. With swimming, I guess it just stuck with me.”
He was placed in swimming classes and came under the tutelage of Jen Anselmo, who is now his high school coach and has relished the privilege of watching him grow and develop.
“Joseph Hong is one of the hardest working athletes I have ever had the honor to coach,” she said. “I have known Joseph since he was 5 years old when he was taking swimming lessons in a class I was teaching. A few years later, he joined the Pennridge Aquatic Club team and that’s when his success really started.”
Hong confesses that he was not a natural as soon as he hit the water, but he saw it as a sport where he could set challenges and meet them.
“I just improved, consistently,” he said. “Thankfully, I got to where I am today. But, as a kid, I was never really like a standout.”
In the final analysis, he will be the first to say that it is all a matter of keeping your eyes on the prize.
“I just don’t think you should limit yourself,” Hong said. “Chase your goals, chase your dreams. That’s how I’ve always looked at things.”
A Star Is Born
As a sophomore in 2019, Hong qualified for the PIAA State meet for the first time.
It was from there that a star was born.
“He really got a taste for that higher level of swimming there, placing 16th,” said Anselmo. “The next year, he set his sights on making the top 8 and raced against the best in the state to finish 5th in the 100 breast. This year he will once again be going to States for breaststroke, and he’s seeded 7th going into the meet.”
Hong is aware of the competition but is prepared for the challenge come March 19-20.
“I want to get as a high of a rank as possible, but in our state, we have the national public high school record holder (from Upper St. Clair),” he said. “Plus, I have a friend at North Penn who won districts this year. He’s going to be hard to beat as well. There is definitely going to be some competition.”
The Mental Approach
While most would think of swimming in the same vein as track – in the sense that you are either fast enough or not – but Hong insists there is much more to it than that simplification.
“It’s probably 90 percent mental,” he said. “Obviously, you have to be in really great shape, but the mental part really plays a huge aspect. If you have a bad race, you can’t dwell on that. If you do, you are just going to screw up your next race. I just look at it - I see what I could have done better, and then I move on. I use it as motivation for what I could have done better at practice.”
Knowing him the way she does, Anselmo sees an athlete that can police himself.
“He loves to set big goals for himself and will work to not only reach the goal, but he wants to smash the goal and set an even bigger one,” she said. “In a season like this one, when we were not guaranteed anything, Joe set his sights on the record board and leaving his legacy for the future Rams to race against. He lowered his own 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke record and also took down the team record in the 200 free and pool and team record in the 200 IM.”
That carried over to re-writing school history with three teammates.
Said Anselmo: “He was also an integral part of the 200 medley relay that made Pennridge men’s swimming history by placing 5th at the Distinct 1 AAA meet, also smashing the record the boys broke the year before with teammates Greg Bashaar, Julian Arteaga, and Brett Musselman.”
In terms of being goal-oriented, Hong is well aware of how far the approach has gotten him.
“I’m really goal-driven,” he said. “I’m driven by times – whether it’s state level or national level – and I just look forward to being able to compete.”
In addition to his Pennridge coaches – Anselmo and Jacob Grant – he wanted to thank his club coach, Crystal Keelan, and all his teammates.
“Without my teammates cheering me on, I couldn’t swim half as fast as I do,” he said.
Hong has always tried his best to return the favor.
“We all have to be able to motivate each other, because it’s been such as weird year (with COVID-19),” he said. “It’s very easy during these times to slack off and say ‘this year doesn’t matter,’ but this is really important. It shows you who you are and what you can do for your team.”
By The Books
Hong is equally driven in the classroom, even if it’s currently all virtual, boasting an unweighted GPA of 4.0 while taking all AP and honors classes.
It is the byproduct of what his mother and father – Jungah and Yoon Hong – have instilled in him and younger brother, Tim, who is currently a middle school swimmer.
“Ever since I was a kid, it was taught to me that I need to excel in the classroom,” he said. “Even in high school, if you get bad grades, you are not allowed on the team. That’s just another motivation to keep up your schoolwork.”
This doesn’t mean his parents are not his biggest fans.
“They have been with me since the beginning, whether it’s cheering me on at meets or supporting me financially by buying me the right (training) equipment,” said Hong. “They have driven me to those 5 a.m. morning practices. They have definitely been there for me, and my success is just as much theirs as it is mine.”
When it came time to connect with colleges that met both his academic needs and swimming goals, his stellar manuscript opened up opportunities.
He was able to narrow his list to three schools before eventually choosing Virginia Tech, where he will study computer science.
“With some schools, it doesn’t matter how fast you are,” Hong said. “If you don’t have the grades, you won’t get in. That’s really important once you enter the recruiting process.”
Although Hong was not involved in many other school activities, it was well worth the sacrifice, especially since he was also swimming at the more competitive club level for the Penn Charter Aquatic Club on a year-round basis.
“When I got to high school, I really just stuck to swimming and academics and keeping my grades up,” he said. “That’s all I really had time for.”
The Final Hurdle
A major reason for choosing Virginia Tech was the chance to work with head coach Sergio Lopez Miro, who was a two-time Olympian in the breaststroke with a bronze medal in 1988.
“I was really fortunate for them to offer me a spot,” said Hong. “The coaching staff there is great, especially (Lopez Miro). With the success he has had there with Olympians and national level swimmers, it just really drew my attention to the swim team.”
Before Vicksburg, though, Hong will have the state meet at Cumberland Valley and his final time with his teammates and coaches at Pennridge.
“Joe is also incredibly humble and well-loved on the team,” said Anselmo. “Because he is such a competitor, he also brings out the best in his teammates. He is always up cheering for the team and offering up advice when asked. Everyone wants to be their best when Joe is there, he raises the bar for himself and his teammates are right there to meet him.”
What she loves most is watching him transform into another being altogether when it’s time to compete.
“On (the) deck he’s so easygoing, but as soon as the swim cap goes on and he gets behind a starting block, he becomes a different athlete,” Andselmo said. “Joseph doesn’t know how to give less than 110 percent. He is like that with everything he does, he is also an excellent student and was awarded the Scholar Athlete Award for this winter sports season.”
Moreover, she has no doubt that the youngster who she taught to swim after his failure on the soccer field will keep progressing.
She will be in the figurative front row watching and cheering.
“It’s going to be very exciting watching him swim at Virginia Tech next school year,” the Rams’ coach said. “There is so much he’s going to learn and I know he will continue to push himself to be better while maintaining the level sportsmanship he has developed with his years at Pennridge.”
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