Rose basketball highlights
Lin swims his way to success in Taiwan
MON.| 11-7-22 | SPORTS
Freshman swimmer and cross-country runner, Owen Lin’s mentality is what makes him an elite swimmer not only across the country but also in other continents around the world.
“I want to be the best at what I do,” Lin said. “I love to win.”
Lin went to Taiwan in July to visit family after spending a month trying to look for flights into the country. Taiwan's strict COVID-19 policies made it so that there were very few flights leaving or coming into the country, and those available were extremely expensive.
As flight demand started to skyrocket, his chances of coming back to America for the first day of school became increasingly improbable. Luckily for Lin, he could still train and compete in Taiwan, competing in a 13-14 year old national swim event.
Despite being away from home, Lin found comfort in the pool. He won one out of 12 events while he was there. Even though he was doing well, there still was some adjusting to do to get used to the meets in Taiwan. He felt that the competitions were slightly different there.
“The time you have to rest in finals is way less [than in America],” Lin said. “The competitions like prelims and finals are much longer.”
Lin has been swimming competitively for nine years and
Photo by Anthien Nguyen
trains every day. His father, Peter Lin also runs with him and pushes him to keep getting better everyday. He looks up to Michael Phelps and Caleb Dressel as his swimming role models but credits his dad for getting him into swimming. Lin says his rigorous training schedule has been his key to success.
“Some days I swim in the morning for an hour and a half, then go to cross country practice after school for an hour and a half, straight into swimming which is normally around two to two and a half hours,” Lin said.
Lin started running during the COVID-19 pandemic as training for swimming but quickly discovered he was quite good at it. His stamina and endurance made him an excellent cross-country runner and last year at E.B. Aycock Middle School, he won first place in every race he participated in.
Lin had planned to run cross country at Rose but wasn’t sure if he would be back in Greenville by the first practice. He was able to make the first meet of the season where he ran a 17:52 in a 5-kilometer (3.1 miles race), his personal best. Lin’s average mile time was about 5:45, putting him at a little over half the global average.
Although Lin has a busy sports schedule, he still finds time to work on academics, taking all honors and advanced placement classes as a freshman. He says that he just tries to keep his focus on whatever he’s doing.
“I keep a strict schedule but academics always come first,” Lin said. “When it’s time to do school, I focus on school. When it’s time to do sports, I focus on sports. I think of it as a long-term goal [to be successful at both] and work for a successful future. Sometimes you just have to push through.”
Lin continues to push through any adversity that he might face and overcome it, to be the best student-athlete he can be.
