ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: George Kudmani

Southwest Aquatics swimmer George Kudmani competed recently at the senior championships in the 50- and 100-meter butterfly events, as well as the 50-meter breaststroke. Kudmani qualified for the championships for the 50- and 100-meter butterfly events with a time of 31.5 and 1:09, respectively, and the 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 37.0.

How do you feel about qualifying for the senior championships? 
When I first did it, I was ecstatic. I remember screaming, “Let’s go!” at the end of it. 

What are you most excited about competing at the senior championships? 
I am most excited about the environment. By swimming with all these fast swimmers, you get to see fast swimming and also do it too. 

Tell us about your years as a swimmer. 
I started at about age 3 with survival training and all that. Then, I first started on the swim team at age 6 in Louisville, Kentucky. I swam until age 11 until I finally moved down here. 

Have there been any challenges you’ve had to overcome? 
Back in 2020, I was at the top of my game, and then COVID-19 came and shut everything down. So it was about six months without swimming, and it was awful. And finally I got back after COVID-19. … Once I got back, I started getting back into the habit of swimming and stuff, and I was getting faster than my old times, faster than I ever was. And then another roadblock hit me. In October, 2020, I was diagnosed with COVID-19. It was a two-week quarantine, and then, when I got out and went back to swim again, I got really sick. It was the end of the two-week break, and I got back to swimming. … I never really got back into the shape I wanted to. Instead of getting better, I kept getting slower. I just kept getting sicker and eventually, I stepped on the scale and I had dropped like 10 pounds … and I kept dropping weight. By November 2020, I was down to 80 pounds. … The doctors couldn’t give us an answer, so we kept going back. … I felt really discouraged. I would feel so sick that I would miss weeks at a time. … By January 2021, we finally went to the doctor, and they performed a colonoscopy, (and) they finally found the answer: I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and celiac disease — and a shrimp allergy — all in the same day. 

How did you feel when they diagnosed you with Crohn’s and celiac disease? 
I was like, ‘Thank you so much. I can get better — finally.’ But then it hit me, I’m never going to eat … any gluten or fiber. So there was this whole thing about managing my diet that I had never thought about. And looking back now, up until I got sick, I was eating so badly. … But then I was like, ‘If I’m going to get better, I am sticking to the diet and doing what I need to do to feel good again.’ So, what I didn’t expect at the time … is that it took me about six months to even stop feeling pain, just because I was so in deep from eating poorly. … When I stepped on the scale, (months after being diagnosed) and I saw I was 10 pounds up from where I was, I was so happy. 

What is your earliest memory of swimming? 
When I was about 4 or 5 years old, my swim instructor would throw the toys in the bottom of the pool, and I would swim down and retrieve them.

What is your favorite hobby? 
I am really big into playing guitar. 

What are three things you would take with you to a deserted island? 
Probably matches, an axe and a book — the complete series of “Harry Potter.” 

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why? 
The ability to stop time, never be late. But not reverse it. I feel like that’s too much power. 

What are three places you’d like to visit? Why? 
Italy, because of the food — (Italians) are known for their gluten-free (food). … Hawaii, to go to the beach there and surf, and the United Kingdom — I’d like to see Scotland, the lochs and hills. 

If you could go back in time to a specific period of history, which one would it be and why? 
I’d like to see ancient Rome in all its glory; that’d be really cool.

What color would you say represents your personality? Why?
Blue, because I like it. 

If you could be an animal for a day, which one would you be and why? 
A bird, probably an eagle, because I’d love to fly around and see the world.