North Jersey Female Athlete of the Week races to the top with a team-first attitude
Before racing past everyone in the water, Rebekah Jung was diving ahead in a different lane.
Jung played the piano and violin when she was younger. She's the daughter of two musically-inclined immigrants from Seoul, South Korea.
Her foray into the pool came by chance. No one in her house, or even extended family, had much background in athletics.
"I originally started swimming because I had really terrible asthma when I was younger," Jung said. "I know that's a common story for a lot of swimmers, but I never really loved swimming until I turned 12."
That love and the desire to master each and every part of her game has gone a long way for the Palisades Park native who attends Bergen Tech in Teterboro. She placed second in the county last year in the backstroke and individual medley while swimming for Leonia/Palisades Park. (Students are allowed to compete for their home district if Bergen Tech does not offer a sport, such as in swimming and wrestling.)
This season has brought more fast times for Jung and the Lions. She opened up her junior year by winning all four of her races last week in a victory over Rutherford. Her willingness to move all over the lineup continues to be a huge plus for the defending conference champions.
"Whatever we need her to do, it's all right coach, I'm ready to go," coach Tim Ryan said. "That's the best mentality you could have, especially for someone of that caliber."
Getting to this point has taken consistency and plenty of mileage.
Jung trains with the Scarlet Aquatics club team and practices every day, sometimes twice a day. She spends about 70 percent of the time on her favorite race, the backstroke, and about 10 percent on each of the other three disciplines. It culminated last year with a pair of top-15 finishes in the state Meet of Champions.
While it was "a little weird" at first to compete for another high school, Jung said she's come to love the fun atmosphere around the Lions program. Maybe her only regret is the fact that she wasn't sure how to sign up freshman year and missed the deadline.
"I only knew one person, which was my friend (Isabelle Yoo) who begged me to join the team," Jung said. "She told me it was so much fun. Everyone else I got to know throughout the meets. They are all so nice. I love my teammates."
Jung looks back at a meet in Florida right before the pandemic as a turning point in her career. She made a sectional cut for the first time and turned in what she still considers the best race of her life. That solidified a love of swimming for Jung, who wants to compete in college and then follow her dad's footsteps in the world of finance.
"I've never met a kid with this much fire and desire to be a part of a team and a culture," Ryan said. "She just really is something special. You see it with her swims, but on our end when she's not in the pool, she's an excellent young woman."
Swimming has not completely stopped Jung in her creative pursuits. She chose Bergen Tech for its commercial arts program since she has always loved drawing, painting and crafting. And as a fluent Korean speaker, she is hoping to visit the Asian peninsula when her schedule finally clears up.
"So many of my friends have gone and they are always telling me how amazing it is," Jung said. "I really want to go, but life keeps getting in the way or I have to swim."
Rebekah Jung
Sport: Swimming
School: Bergen Tech
Class: Junior. Age: 16
Accomplishment: Jung led Leonia/Palisades Park past Rutherford last Thursday with first-place times in the backstroke, individual medley, 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen Record Female Athlete of the Week: Rebekah Jung, Bergen Tech
