The Bayside High School swimming pool sits in a relatively small, semi-subterranean hall with banners, buoys and lane separators hanging from the slick, tiled walls. There is a sweltering humidity hanging in the air; starkly contrasting the February afternoon outside.
“I think they keep it hot in here so nobody gets sick,” said senior James Chang, captain of the Bayside swim team. “I’m always in the pool, so it doesn’t bother me.”
Chang, 17, spends more time in the water per day than most of us spend in the shower per week. Besides swimming for the Bayside Commodores, he also swims for a private team with the Gateway Sports Club. With intense, water-logged practices for both teams, it is a wonder that Chang can still function as a biped on dry land.
“I don’t think any swimmer likes practice. It kills your body,” he said. “By the time it’s over, you can’t walk straight.”
However, the Flushing resident knows that these body-numbing exercises are crucial to his performance. With the State Championships coming February 26-27, Chang’s readying himself for the competition.
“The other swimmers at States are monsters,” said Chang of his competition. “I’m going there and I want to win, but I’m also going for fun and to meet other swimmers.”
The trip upstate figures to be just one of many excursions for Chang as he readies himself for college and beyond. A travel fanatic with a zeal for meeting new people and eating new foods, Chang figures to see the world with help from his two passions: the pool and the financial world.
He foresees a career in business as his ticket to countries far and wide. Paris, Rome, Moscow; if it is out there, Chang wants it as a destination. Also, the promise of working in business puts Chang in a position that he has coveted since he was a young boy with greenbacks in his eyes.
“I have a fondness for money,” he said. “When I was young, I was always putting pennies in my mouth and exchanging large bills for smaller ones because it looked like more money to me.”
Chang has been accepted to so many colleges that he has trouble remembering them all. He already has his sights set on a Master’s degree from New York University (NYU), but will first attend Baruch College because it allows him to stay close to home and work while he studies.
Staying close to home during his first few years of college is important to Chang. He has a younger brother and sister, both of whom are swimmers in their own right, and parents who helped sow the seeds of his future in America. They arrived here from Taiwan in the late 1980s. Chang said he regrets the discrimination his parents faced early on.
“I want to earn enough money to support them when they retire,” he said. “I want them to enjoy their lives because they have been through so much.”
Right now, the Changs enjoy watching their son and big brother swim against top competition with barely a hint of worry or stress. Chang said that confidence is the key to success in any endeavor, including swimming.
“Confidence removes all anxiety and nervousness. You can’t swim nervous,” he said. “I might want to swim in the Olympics one day and you can’t be nervous against those guys; they are beasts in the water.”
His performance and confidence got him promoted to co-captain last year, giving him a chance to mentor and encourage a younger, less-focused crop of swimmers. His swim coach at Bayside, Henya Goldstein, said that Chang is a natural leader with a very bright future.
“James is probably the easiest to work with on the team,” said Goldstein. “He practices a lot and is extremely cool under pressure.”
Chang’s shark-like determination in the water enables him to handle the draining practices, the grueling meets and even the lazy freshmen. For him, the trick is remembering the benefits of taking yourself, not over, but right to the limit.
With Chang set to graduate high school, college and the rest of the world have officially been put on notice.
“I’m definitely going to beat them, whoever they are,” he said. “I plan on setting some records and obliterating the competition.”
