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First place, $75, Michelle Cao, 15, Temple City HS. Teacher: Diane Chang-Ho.

“Swimming makes me feel like I can be myself. It’s when I’m the most free and when I enjoy myself. This was based on a photo that my friend took on a day when morning swim practice was canceled because of the weather. We were happy because we found out that we won the meet from the day before, plus practice was canceled. We have lots of practices—mornings, afternoons, Saturdays. It’s really intense. Even though swimming is my passion, it was nice to hear that practice was canceled because we’d been working really hard.”