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Dreaming of gold, he focuses on fun

Showing strokes of genius, a young swimmer tries to balance enjoyment and Olympic desires.

By TERRY JONES
Published July 29, 2005

TAMPA PALMS - Cody Wei doesn't race just to be a faster swimmer than his opponents in the pool, even though few are capable of beating him. He competes against an invisible clock in his mind.

When he cuts a swimming time, he works hard to cut more.

The 12-year-old Tampa Palms swimming star is a member of Team New Tampa, a youth swim team sponsored by the New Tampa Family YMCA and coached by Mitzi Kremer and Mark Tighe.

He recently broke most of the individual club records set by Michael Silva for the 11-12 age group. Since he recently turned 12, he will be eligible to beat his own records next year.

Silva, now a senior at Freedom High School, is a two-time state champion.

Wei started swimming with Team New Tampa when he was 6 years old and entered his first competition at 9.

Speed is his thing in the water, so he has focused on freestyle and butterfly sprints. He prefers the 25- and 50-yard and meter events.

However, he is versatile and can compete in the individual medley, which gives him the opportunity to swim the backstroke and breaststroke as well.

Tighe says Wei has plenty of room to get better.

"Right now he has been focusing on the sprints, but he will eventually be a top swimmer in the 100 and 200 events," Tighe said. "He has beautiful strokes and seems to be moving into a new level in everything. His freestyle, butterfly and backstroke are picture perfect, and he is quickly improving on his breaststroke."

At a state Junior Olympics meet earlier this month in Gainesville, he won two silver medals and a bronze and qualified for a regional meet in three other events. The regionals are scheduled for early August in Houston.

Wei captured silver in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 30.3 seconds and the 50-meter freestyle with 28.2 and a bronze in the 100 butterfly with a 1:08.19.

He also qualified in the 100 freestyle (1:02.11), 200 individual medley (2:31.66) and the 50 breaststroke (38.6).

Even with all his success in competitive swimming, at this stage of his budding career, Wei simply has fun in the pool.

When many of the other top youth swimmers are in the pool practicing six days a week, before daybreak and again in the afternoon, Wei practices only once a day and six days weekly.

"My coaches prefer me to enjoy my sport and make time for other things also," Wei said. "I would like to swim in college and maybe make the USA Olympic team some day. They do not want me to burn out on the sport too early."

Wei is a straight-A scholar who will be a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School in August. He plans to enroll in the International Baccalaureate program at King High School in the ninth grade.

"My academics are very important to me," he said. "Both my parents are doctors, and I would also like to someday become a doctor."

With his ability to balance his life and schedule between academics, swimming and social time with his friends, one would think he would have little time remaining to squeeze in other things. Not so.

He also likes to play tennis and even plays in weekend youth tournaments occasionally.

But swimming is his sports passion.

Tighe says his young star has high ambitions, but he also has a lot of potential.

"Not many make the Olympic team," Tighe said. "But Cody has a very disciplined work ethic, lots of drive and talent, and certainly his dream is not out of the realm of possibility."

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 08:19:13]