CASEY GARRISON, South Korea- Soldiers from C Battery, 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division, took home 57 medals - more than one-third of the total awarded - during the Swimming Championship hosted by Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation June 19 here.
There were three different divisions in the competition, men's senior (32 and up), men's junior (31 and below) and the women's division, which had no age limit. The competition consisted of 14 events and C Btry., 6/37th FA dominated every event. Medals were handed out by Christopher Suarez, 6/37th Field Artillery, 2nd Infantry division, to the top three finishers in each event.
Spencer Underwood, C Btry., 6/37th FA, carried a lot of weight around his neck as he took home five gold medals - the most of any competitor.
Underwood said his unit didn't have much time to prepare for the event, but he was very pleased with the results.
"We only had about a week and a half to come to the pool to train after physical training," he said. "This event was more about who had the strongest swimmers and our company proved that we can come together and shine in these competition."
"The competition, in itself, I feel could have been a little stronger if more people would have come to compete," Underwood said. "I think a lot of people got discouraged because it is a swimming event and many people don't consider swimming a true competition, but swimming is a difficult sport to master.
"Swimming takes a lot of endurance, physical strength and mental strength, and if you put a lot of athletes like basketball players or those big football players in the pool they wouldn't know what to do."
Brandon Sonnenburg and Aaron Leadingfox, also members of C Btry., 6/37th FA, took home four gold medals which gave them the second most gold medals for the day. These three competitors accounted for a combined 15 medals.
"This was a really fun event," Underwood said. "It's a good thing that our company is a very 'participation oriented' company, these events bring everybody together and we truly have a good time. Hopefully FMWR can provide more of these competitive events and possibly give us the opportunity to win prizes. I think even more people would come out then."
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