Tuan girls swim, coach together at PASDA meet
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
The Princeton Area Swimming and Diving Association Championships gave Susanna and Carla Tuan an opportunity to compete together one last time for the Nassau Swim Club.
The sisters from Princeton shared in a pair of relay wins and Carla won the 100 individual medley and placed second in the 50 butterfly. They helped Nassau place second behind Ben Franklin in PASDA Division 2.
”We won some points for Nassau,” Carla said. “I think we did really well for the amount of kids we had. It doesn’t matter the quantity, as long as everyone is having fun and doing their best, that’s all that matters.”
For Susanna, who is heading to the University of Chicago after graduating from the Lawrenceville School, it was the end of a long road that saw her begin at Nassau when she was 5. There have been a lot of PASDA meets through the years.
”It was more nostalgic than I thought it would be,” Susanna said. “I’ve also hung on longer than a lot of people. A lot of my Nassau friends have moved on. I’m ready for something new.”
Susanna never wavered in her loyalty to her Nassau team. She exits after combining with her sister Carla, Emily Lovett, who lives in New York City but spends her summers in Princeton, and Sophia Monaghan, a consistent PASDA standout, to win the medley relay and the free relays.
”I think we did great overall,” said Nassau swim coach Beth Nagle. “We didn’t bring a ton of swimmers to the meet. Every swimmer we brought placed and brought us points. We had happy swimmers and they feel like they accomplished something. They come to practice every day and work hard and they were rewarded for that.”
Said Susanna: “We had a really good group of girls this year. We really lucked out this year. We had a lot of year-round swimmers.”
Susanna swam for the X-Cel club team year-round through middle school before focusing on academics at Lawrenceville, where she did two years of water polo and two years of lacrosse in addition to swimming.
”Swimming,” Susanna said, “is the one thing I kept going.”
Carla, who will be a junior at Lawrenceville, has followed her lead. She gave up year-round swimming to concentrate on schoolwork, but still swims for Lawrenceville, plays water polo and runs track.
”I think I’ve always been the more serious swimmer, but we’ve enjoyed it the same amount,” Carla said. “I guess I followed in her footsteps. She started and I naturally did it. I was her age when I started.”
The Tuans grew up at Nassau in the summers. They’ve gone from beginning swimmers to lifeguards and coaches.
”Every kid at Nassau looks to be a lifeguard or coach,” Carla said. “When I was old enough, there was no question about it. I was there when my sister was 6, so I think I started when I was 4.”
This is the first summer that both are coaches for Nassau. It’s the second year in a row that Susanna worked with the 12-and-under age group.
”I requested this year,” she said. “It’s easy to get them set up and work on their technique. With 6 year olds, it’s a lot more hands on.”
Carla spent her first season coaching 6 year olds this summer. She was at both days of the PASDA meet. She spent much of her time making sure her swimmers were in the right heat and the right lanes.
”You definitely gain a lot more respect when you’re older,” she said. “You realize it’s not as easy as it looks.”
Carla got a taste of some of the unforeseen challenges during practices, but it was also rewarding to see the development of her age group.
”Since I worked with such a young age group, the water was cold when we started,” Carla said. “The kids hadn’t done swim team before, so it was hard to encourage them to get in the water and swim. By the end of the season, they all got so much better and they would jump in right away at the start of the practice. It was crazy how much they improved by the end of the season.”
Nagle always finds the development encouraging. Each year, she sees progress from start to finish of the short season.
”We’re probably one of the only teams that don’t require a deep water test,” she said. “We try to get them swimming on their own. We had a boy comes with swimmies on the first practice, and we said he had to take them off. We just had a coach go in with him. By the second or third meet, he was doing it by himself. Coming to practice every day, it’s a short season, it’s only a month, but we really did see progress.”
The progress came to fruition at the PASDA Championship, when Nassau swimmers produced several season bests, and Carla and Susanna had plenty over which to be excited.
”It was the first year I was the coach, so I was multi-tasking,” Carla said. “I was coaching these kids. When you’re young, it’s so exciting. And when you’re older, you get to have the excitement for the younger kids.”
There are still some thrills for the swimmers too, none more than during the relays.
”Those are the best part of the meet,” Nagle said. “The kids love working together and swimming together.
”Last year we placed first point-wise. This year, we were second. I know Ben Franklin had a ton of kids there. The fact we did as well as we did with not as many swimmers, we were proud of ourselves.”
The relays helped to push Nassau’s points total up. The oldest girls swept their two relays to the delight of their teammates.
”When you’re younger, you stand at the other side and cheer for the older kids,” Carla said. “Then you’re one of the older kids and the other kids are sitting at the other end cheering for you.”
Said Susanna: “A lot of the kids I coach were watching me. It was a different feeling than I’d had before. They definitely thought we were super swimmers, which we’re not.”
They were good enough to win their relays, something that has been a constant since they were young.
”One year — my pride and joy — when I was 8, I broke the PASDA record in a relay,” Susanna said. “The relays are a lot of fun. You swim a lot better and swim memorable times.”