Charting her course
Orange County's Thùy Mi Đinh is looking forward to making a big splash at the U.S. Naval Academy.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Sometimes, losses have a way of turning out to be victories in the end. Thły Mi Šinh and her family know how life’s journeys can sometimes twist like that. Šinh's dream since she was in junior high was to attend Stanford University. But after years of training as a year-round club swimmer and years of challenging herself in the classroom, the senior from John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, Calif., learned last summer that the university considered her a fringe contender for its women’s team, basically a walk-on. “Right when I heard that, it kind of crushed my dreams,” she said. Šinh thought about quitting swimming but an open mind about other college opportunities helped turn her outlook around. She expressed interest in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, known in college athletics as Army, and the U.S. Naval Academy, or Navy. Her father, Tom, gave his sales pitch for Navy. The 55-year-old was in the South Vietnamese navy for eight years during the Vi?t Nam War. So Šinh visited the academy in Annapolis, Md., in February and discovered a new school of her dreams. Last month, she was accepted by Navy and will attend the academy. “I’m glad I found (Navy),” she said. Navy should be thankful, too. Šinh is one of Orange County’s fastest sprint freestylers. She broke the Empire league record in the 100-yard freestyle, set in 1987, with a time of 53.14 seconds, and will be a swimmer to watch in the upcoming California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) meets. The three-time Empire League MVP ranks second in Orange County this season in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.82 seconds. Only eight girls in county history ever have been faster. As a freshman, Šinh captured the 50 freestyle at the CIF Division II finals and has been third in the two-lap race the past two seasons. While a U.S. senior-national qualifying time remains elusive, she crashed a major barrier during a club meet in early March. Racing for Fullerton Aquatic Sports Team (FAST) at the Speedo California-Nevada sectional, she used one of her trademark quick starts and a powerful kick to win the biggest race of her career, taking the 50 in 23.85 seconds, her first trip under 24 seconds. Though she has won close to 300 medals in almost a decade of racing, Šinh is modest. One sample, “I don’t like losing, but I’m not that great of an athlete so I tend to get frustrated a lot.” What Šinh doesn’t share is that she is a junior black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an excellent runner. She excels in the classroom, too. She had a 4.17 grade-point average last semester and has a 3.8 overall. With school and club swim practices six days a week, Šinh doesn’t have much free time, but she still helps with Kennedy’s Friday Night Live program, which promotes staying away from drugs and alcohol. She doesn’t drive yet, but thanks to her mother, Jin, she makes it to school and the pool. Šinh aspires to be a Navy doctor. Judging by her work with crochet and origami, she might make a great surgeon because she works very well with her hands. “I really want to feel useful in this world,” she said. “I hope to be a doctor on a ship and travel the world.” Sometimes, Šinh said her father tells her how good she has it compared with his upbringing. As a young child in North Vi?t Nam, he and his family fled the Communists by moving to the South. Growing up poor, Tom started working at age 12. He was a member of the South Vieät Nam’s navy from 1968-75. During the time the North seized control of Sai Gon, Tom fled for the United States aboard a navy vessel filled with escapees. He helped navigate the boat to a friendly U.S. ship and later watched his passengers cry when the Vietnamese flag came down from that vessel and the American flag went up. “We didn’t know our future,” Tom said of the tears. “After 20 years of fighting, with America guiding and support, I run away again — to America. I’m here today 30 years now and I’m so proud to be an American.” His daughter will have a minimum five-year military service after she graduates. “I just hope some day I can be that courageous,” she said of her father. “If my dad can do it, I can do it.”
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