Gabriel Grauwde doing well in the US.

Gabriël Grauwde, a former student at the AlphaMax Academy (2012 Class) and now a student at the West Virginia University Institute of Technology continues to do well in both academic work and swimming.

Gabriel Grauwde

Gabriël is a member of the University’s swimming team and is considered one of the team’s best swimmers. This is the first year that the school has a swimming  team which has participated in swimming competitions. Gabriel has been to swimming competitions in several states : Ohio, Kentucky,Virginia,
, Oklahoma and of course West Virginia.  

Recently Gabriël competed in two very big swimming competitions in Kentucky and in Oaklahoma. The competition in Kentucky was the Appalachian Athletic Conference Swimming Championships and this was a Conference Championship where all the universities in the Appalachian Athletic Conference participate . Gabriël produced some good results making the B-final in a few of his events. 

Gabriël Grauwde also went to the National NAIA Swimming Championships in Oaklahoma City, Oaklahoma. For a freshman, qualifying for these championships is a spectacular achievement. At the national championships, even though Gabriel did not make any finals individually, he swam a few of his best times and his relay team was able to make the finals in a few of their relays. 

Gabriël is now preparing for the Suriname National Short Course Championships for which he will be returning to Suriname in May. Gabriël is a dedicated student-athlete and plans to continue to perform at a high level and to the highest of his ability.

AddMichael Grauwde

Written By Michael Grauwde

Gabriel Grauwde launches his personal website

Gabriel Grauwde ,GAC class of 2012 has created a personal biographical website. Its URL is

http://gabrielgrauwde.weebly.com/. He is inviting his classmates and friends to visit his site and make comments on how he can improve it. He wants to give a picture of his academic and non academic achievements.

Gabriel is an outstanding Surinamese youth swimmer. He is in his final year at AlphaMax Academy and is a member of the GAC class.

Last summer he represented Suriname at the International Triathlon Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. Gabriel came to AlphaMax after spending twelve years in Barbados. His dream is to represent Suriname at the 2016 Olympics.Gabriel’s current plan is to study in the US in the fall of 2012.

Interview with Gabriel Grauwde

By Kristina Taylor GAC 2012 Class

            Gabriel Giano Hesdie Jr., Grauwde was born on August 29^th, 1994.  He is a young yet mature athlete with many prestigious achievements.  Some of his major achievements are winning first place in the Telesur Swim Marathon on the Suriname River and first place in many international swim meets.  He also won second place in the annual Staatsolie Swim Marathon in the Suriname River and attended the World Triathlon in Switzerland.  Although he has a very busy schedule during the week, he still has time to spend time with his lovely family.  Gabriel’s swim achievements and his amusing personality has made him an extremely popular teenager in Suriname and throughout the Caribbean.  He is also known for his quick, witty, and sometimes pompous remarks on some topics, but that is also what makes him a distinct individual at his high school.  On Wednesday, November 23^rd, I interviewed Gabriel Grauwde and I asked him the following set of questions:

Q:  Name the first thoughts that come to your mind while you swim.

A:  “I think about the race and how I am going to win the race.”

Q:  At what age did you start swimming?

A:  “I started swimming when I was four years.”

Q:  Would you say you started swimming for fun and exercise or did you start to become the high achieving athlete you are today?

A:  “I started swimming for fun and I loved the water.  When I saw that I had talent, I started to swim for competitions.”

Q:  Did you have any inspirations to start swimming or were you just persuaded by your parents?

A:  “Ian Thorp inspired me to swim.”

Q: How old were you when you started swimming competitions? Do you remember the competition? If so, explain.

A:  “I was 7 years old.  It was the Short Course Nationals in Barbados, I swam the 50m breast- stroke, and I won a silver medal.  It was a fun and intense competition despite my age.”

Q:  About how many medals and trophies do you have?

A:  “I have about 400 medals and 21 trophies.”

Q:  I heard you recently won the Telesur Marathon on the Suriname River, how do you feel about that achievement?

A:  “I feel proud because I won, and I am really proud of myself; on the other hand, I felt disappointed because I expected to win something more than a trophy.  Without the support from m friends and family, I do not think that I would have won”

Q:  Explain the feel of the Marathon.

A:  “ It was an intense race, yet at the same time the intensity made me excited!”

Q: About how many hours do you swim per week?

A: “I swim 15 hours of training per week.”

Q:  Do you have those days where you say you don’t want to go to training?

A:  “Yes I do, but I have a goal to achieve, so I must work towards that goal.”

Q:  Do you have any role models?

A:  “Michael Pheleps and Kosuke Kitajima motivate me the most.”

Q:  Is there a message you want to give the other swimmers out there, maybe a message of motivation?

A:  “I just want to say, ‘hard work pays off’!” 

  

My Trip to Auburn University

On Saturday 22^nd October, 2011, I left Suriname together with my father, mother and brother to go to Auburn, Alabama in the United States. That morning we took the flight to Trinidad where we landed safely.However, we had to wait five hours for our flight to Miami. Next, we went to Atlanta, Georgia, where we slept for the night and the next day, we made our way to Alabama by car.

The main purpose of the trip was to visit Auburn University and to get firsthand experience of what it is like at the university. Auburn is on the top of my list of universities to attend so I decided to visit. My father’s colleague is a professor at Auburn University, Montgomery and we stayed by him. While I was there, I got the chance to get see the university, get a campus tour, tour the engineering department, meet with the swim coach and also have a meeting with Admission Advisors.

I visited the university’s website but being there was totally different. I was impressed with the University’s facilities and their reception of me as a potential foreign student. The trip was an amazing experience and one of the best experiences I have ever had in my life.

Written by: Gabriel Grauwde ((GAC 2012 Class)--AlphaMax Academy