Bryan Kim
The Olympic Alum Robert Dodge (faculty 83-06)
Swimming is where SAS has achieved great sports success, and one athlete, Bryan Kim (97), stands out from all others. Bryan began swimming in Korea when he was 10. His coach “saw a little bit of potential” and encouraged him to continue when he moved to Singapore in seventh grade. He joined the People’s Association Youth Swimming Club, where he was trained by an ex-national Chinese coach. At SAS Bryan swam first for the SACAC Fighting Fish and then for the high school varsity team. Coach Mark Habell was always present to support him through those years. Named SAS Outstanding Swimmer in grades 10 and 11, Bryan broke every school record. His sophomore year “Korea really saw me as a potential competitor” when he returned for the Asian Games trials and finished second. That same year, he broke four IASAS records and the Korean national record in the 400-meter individual medley (IM). That was hand-timed and Bryan considered it “unofficial,” but in 1995 he represented South Korea at the Pan-Pacific Games. Bryan also regularly made the honor roll, participated in SAS Singers and did community service. The Kims returned to Korea for Bryan’s senior year and he trained with the national team. At the 1996 Olympic trials he won and officially broke the Korean 400-meter IM record. After breaking the record he found his biggest supporter, his dad, and hugged him. “That was the biggest moment,” Bryan recalls. FA L L 2 0 1 3
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