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By Swimming World intern Richard Kang
PISCATAWAY – New Year’s resolutions are often seen as ephemeral, self-made promises, but the Kim family takes it a little more seriously. On New Year’s Day, Danny Kim, an 11-year-old swimmer from Long Island, N.Y., makes the annual drive down to Jones Beach with his family for a special bonding session. There, they write down their hopes and resolutions, put them in a glass bottle, and throw them out to sea.
One of Kim’s goals in 2015 is to be one of the best butterflyers in his age group. Ranked fifth nationally in the 200-yard butterfly in the 10-and-under category last year, Kim wishes to maintain this spot in the 11-12 age group and break the New York Metro record in the long course 100 fly.
“He is literally less than a millisecond away.” stated his coach, Dom Bocchio.
Kim’s time of 1:11:86 in the 100-meter butterfly was good enough for the 10-and-under Long Island Aquatic Club team record last August.
Another of Kim’s resolutions is breaking five minutes in the 400-meter freestyle. He got very close to that goal this weekend at the CeraVe Invitational with a 5:01.74 to finish 14th overall.
“My friends and coaches all cheered me on, and I could hear them screaming at the end, so I tried harder,” he said. “I would’ve got maybe a 5:03 if it weren’t for them.”
His LIAC teammates play a major part in his life. After all, the daily two-hour practices and endless swim meets will create an unbreakable bond.
“If we come early to practice, we’d play games and hang out,” he said. “Sometimes in the summer, we’d go to the parks and the whole team (plays) basketball.”
Hopefully, his teammates will give him the support and motivation he needs to knock out all of his New Year’s resolutions by December.
