South's Kuns find swimming, food, both tasty in Bloomington
It took no time at all for Botond Kun and his older sister Tamara to fall in love with the All-American cheeseburger.
There was no hesitation by either one when asked what their favorite new food has been since they moved to Bloomington from Budapest, Hungary, over the summer when their father was hired by Indiana University.
Tamara, a junior runner and swimmer at Bloomington South, is also partial to pasta and the Olive Garden, thanks in part to the cross country team’s traditional pre-race dinners.
For Botund (Boty for short), a sophomore member of the South boys’ swim team who is getting ready for his first sectional meet (which starts Thursday at East Central), nothing so far has beaten the one-pound Big Ugly burger he consumed at Bub’s downtown after his first taste of the Counsilman Classic.
“That’s my favorite,” he said.
There are burgers in Hungary, he noted, but served up the way the restaurant wants to. Over here, the options, more patties, different kinds of cheese, condiments and toppings, almost make his head spin.
Food, of course, is just part of the culture shock from moving halfway around the world, from one of the largest cities in Europe with well over a million people.
“Everything is very sweet here,” Tamara said.
“And the cucumbers?” Boty asked his sister, looking for the right English word? “Pickles,” she said.
“Yeah, pickles,” Boty said. “So much different.”
And what he wouldn’t give for a Milka chocolate bar, a Hungarian favorite not to be found in Indiana.
More: Freel ends North medal drought at girls' state swim finals
Their mom cooks every day, Tamara said, so they eat a lot of the same dishes. “But it tastes a little bit different,” she said. “It has a different flavor. But I like it.”
The American sports system, with youth teams connected to schools as opposed to just athletic clubs, is also a flavor they have enjoyed so far.
“Very good,” Boty said. “In Hungary, we had to travel one hour to every practice. Here, in the school, it’s easy. It’s here. So is the gym. I like it.”
Active, athletic family
Both have been participating in sports for awhile.
“My dad used to ski,” Tamara said. “So with sports, we were doing something every day. We were really active as kids. We were usually running, or playing basketball or soccer. We did everything.”
Around the age of 9 or 10, Boty was doing triathlons.
“I didn’t like it very much,” he said, the running in particular. “But I do like swimming, so I just do the swimming.”
For both of them, jumping into the local athletics scene, starting with a local swim club, was a great help in getting them integrated into the community and making friends.
“After a couple weeks, we know some kids from the club and that made it much easier coming to the swim team,” Tamara said.
She appreciates high school athletics in that it makes it a bit easier for her to be multisport athlete. Even now, she back doing workouts with her club swim team while also prepping for the upcoming indoor and outdoor track seasons.
“It’s hard,” she said. “I think the systems are so much different, but I think it’s better than Hungary, kind of. I like that the coaches help each other so I can do more than one sport because they communicate with each other. Usually, in Hungary, our coaches don’t fully talk.”
Free and fly guy
Kun is the top seed in the 500 freestyle by less than 0.10, his best time coming while winning a Conference Indiana title, and is seeded fifth in the 100 butterfly, a competitive event likely to be dominated by freshmen and sophomores.
Kun wasn’t a big fan of the longer races, but a coach in Hungary said Boty was good at it and has learned to embrace it. He’s shooting to break 4:50 with the state cut sitting at 4:42.53.
“The fly I wanted to swim,” he said. “And at 100 (yards), I think I’m good.”
More: Sophomore Anna Asplund's breakout season: 'There's something about swimming'
Working on his fly this year, Kun has been trying to improve his underwaters and finish his races taking fewer breaths.
It’s been a good combination of events for him this year and Kun is also likely to have legs in the 200 and 400 free relays as well. He’s adapted well to a different take on training.
“At home, we swim longer and here, we swim shorter,” Kun said. “I don’t know which is harder.”
But it’s all been good with his new coaches and teammates and was surprised to find that one of the Panthers spoke his native tongue, which helped a great deal in communicating, especially early on as he continue to work through the language barrier and improve his English.
“Every coach, Annie (Eakin), Phil (Cole), have been very friendly,” Kun said. “Teammates are the same. And David Kovacs speaks Hungarian, too, so that’s very helpful. We hang out with David and he tells me how we’re doing this or that at practice.
“Everyone has been friendly.”
Competitive environment
The team aspect of swimming is also something he appreciates, including the annual sectional rituals of dying their hair blonde, then shaving it off for the finals to help squeeze out any extra tenth of a second.
“The team thing is very good,” Kun said, noting it was something he never had in Hungary.
And not only friendly, but fast in a community that's had quite a run of swimming success over the past decade. South's school record board is impressive but so are several of his current teammates as well as his new rivals across town.
Kovacs, last year’s H-T boys’ swimmer of the year and sophomore Lukas Paegle, are two of the best in the state. Kian Kadlec, another sophomore, has also been a good training partner in the 500 with a season best of 5:01 and North’s Ty Meyer also comes in at 5:00.
Paegle is seeded second in the fly behind North’s Jay Stewart and both are expected to make the state cut (50.86). Kun’s fifth place seed time is 55.62.
“It’s very good,” Kun said. “Lukas and David are very fast. I’m happy we’re all working together and next to each other so I’m not swimming alone.”
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South's Kuns find swimming, food, both tasty in Bloomington
