Bio

The co-recipient of the 1996 Barbara Barnes Hauptfuhrer '49 Scholar-Athlete Award, Jack Woo '96 qualified for the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in the 100 and 200 meter backstroke during both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons. Woo earned NCAA All-American honors in the 100 meter backstroke as a senior at the 1996 NCAA Championships before going on to represent Hong Kong at in the 1996 EPSON Swimming World Cup, later adding Hong Kong Olympic Team Qualifier to Woo's career honors; which also included four consecutive Seven Sisters All-Tournament Team appearances, All-New England honors and numerous Wellesley program records.

My experience, upon getting the call from Bethany and hearing the news about this honor, can probably be best described as 'falling into a Time Warp':  It's astounding.  Time is fleeting.  Madness… takes its toll.  With a bit of a mind flip, you're into the time slip... and nothing… can be the same.

As I tried to focus on what Bethany was saying, my brain jolted through flashes of memory of my time on the swim team (interspersed with images of Bonnie drinking diet coke) from a quarter century ago: of me going to practice for four hours a day, eating four meals a day (and multiple times in between), and regularly doing snow-angels in my swimsuit between sprint sets over winter session break.  

The memories that loomed largest though, were those of time spent with the team: in the pool, on the road to away meets, at championships, in the locker room, in the weight room, and in dorm rooms making mixed tapes (Google it, it's a real thing).  I enjoyed success in the pool because of my teammates and because of my coach.  This recognition is as much for 1992-1996 teams and Bonnie as it is for me.