Photo courtesy of Asheville School
From the press release from Asheville School:
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (July 17, 2012) Asheville School Swim Coach Frank Kriegler has already proven he knows how to swim a marathon. This summer, he’s turned his swimming adventure into a family affair.
In June, Frank joined his family in participating in the 2012 Florida Keys Community College (FKCC) Swim Around Key West – a 12.5-mile open water swim around Key West.
Kriegler, who is also the Chair of the Science Department at Asheville School, competed with his son Joey, daughter Abby, and wife Tania, who kayaked beside them.
“As a family we think of the swims as fun and something a little different from other family activities,” said Frank. “I like the fact that it requires a good level of fitness. The swims are challenging and I think they help us bond as a family because of the shared experience.”
His son Joey finished in second place in his age group and sixth overall for individual swimmers. Frank and Abby swam in a four-person relay that finished in first place in its category and sixth overall for relays.
And while this year’s 12.5-mile swim was by far the longest swim Frank has participated in with his family, the Kriegler’s aren’t exactly new to swimming together.
“Our family participated in three events last summer,” Frank said. At Lake Hartwell, Joey competed in five races – a 5k, 3k, 2k, 1k and .5k, and Abby and Frank swam a 2k together. The family also swam a five-mile race in Canada, and a 1.5-mile open-water race in Michigan. Tania kayaked by their sides for all three.
Frank credits the Asheville Swim Club for preparing Joey and Abby for open water swims. Frank trains a few times each week with the Asheville Masters team. Taking full advantage of summertime, the family has more races lined up for this summer.
“We plan on doing a 5k swim in Michigan and repeating our 5-mile swim in Canada,” said Frank.
Frank has enjoyed the sport of swimming for most of his life. He swam in high school and played water polo in college. He has been an avid swimmer for the past seven years, and he has led three consecutive Asheville School boys’ swim teams to undefeated regular seasons. His son Joey is a rising sophomore at Asheville School, and was honored with an Outstanding in Boys’ Swimming award as a freshman.
Click here to learn more about the FKCC Swim Around Key West.
A nationally acclaimed co-ed college preparatory boarding and day school, Asheville School enrolls approximately 275 students from across the country and overseas. Recent graduates are attending Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Caltech, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, Davidson, NC State, University of Virginia, Emory, Duke, and Wake Forest, among others.
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