Emily Woo; swimmer to coach

Trips to Aruba, Florida, Puerto Rico, St. Croix and the Bahamas. Former Tokay High swimming star Emily Woo's career has the ingredients of a Beach Boys song, only with school records and national championship appearances sprinkled in.

Woo swam for the Stevens Institute of Technology swim team from 2005-09 and is currently serving as a graduate assistant coach for the Ducks. As a swimmer, Woo broke school records and helped the Ducks finish 11th in the team standings at the 2009 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. As a coach, she's looking to help her swimmers get back to the national meet.

Emily Woo

---

---

Even though she had to move 2,500 miles to attend the Hoboken, N.J., school with 2,000 undergraduate students, Woo said Stevens has been a perfect fit.

"I'm glad I came here and the team really was my family away from my family," Woo said. "Now as a coach, they still are my family away from my family."

At Stevens, the swim teams take an annual winter break training trip to a tropical destination. As a swimmer, Woo said the ventures were physically grueling with two-a-day practices and hard workouts. However, they also got at least one day off to explore and enjoy.

The Ducks recently returned from a 10-day stay in Aruba, which Woo said was her favorite because she was coaching instead of swimming. She also enjoyed her free day and rode an ATV around the island.

Transitioning from a lifetime of swimming to a first-year coach has been an adjustment for Woo. Of course, she did make the most out of her time in the pool.

In her senior season in 2008-09, as the team's captain, she set school records in the 100 backstroke (57.87 seconds), the 100 butterfly (58.23) and the 200 individual medley (2:08.95) and also as a member of 200 medley relay team (1:45.03), the 400 (3:53.02) medley relay squad and the 400 free relay team (3:27.39). She also swam on all five relays that qualified for the NCAA D-III Championships and helped the Ducks place 11th overall.

Woo still swims now, although not competitively, but feels happy with the way her competitive career came to a close.

"I went out with a bang with going to nationals in March," she said. "It was amazing. It was four years in the making and was definitely one of my goals."

Out of the pool, Woo graduated with a degree in chemical biology with a 3.6-plus GPA. She was named the Stevens Woman Athlete of the Year by the New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was also awarded with an official congressional record for her outstanding performance with the Ducks.

"She is the best leader I have ever encountered on any team that I either competed on or coached," Stevens head coach Trevor Miele said in a press release.

Woo now coaches with Miele, focusing mostly on the distance swimmers, but she is also lending a hand in every facet of the program. When the season is over, she will continue to work with the Stevens athletic department, acting as a liaison for visiting teams.

In the classroom, Woo is undergoing classes to get her master's degree in biomedical engineering. It's a two-year program that allows her to stay at Stevens, which is exactly where she wants to be. Woo may continue on to medical school after Stevens, but for now plans to keep on studying and keep on coaching.

"Whether it is in my current position or as a volunteer, I would be happy to continue my involvement in the swimming world," she said.