If one was to see the Cremer family, they would notice an ordinary family that loves to swim for fun and for competition; however, people do not notice the challenges and hardships they have to overcome in their daily lives.
Their family consists of four brothers and two sisters: Alex Cremer, Josie, Cory, Toby, and Ana.
Their whole family loves to swim. Alex swam in high school, and Josie and Cory are following his lead by pursuing the sport as well.
“All together, including summer league and high school league, I have been swimming for about four years,” sophomore Cory said.
Cory swims distance events such as the 200 and the 500 meter.
“My favorite event to swim is the 500. It is also the event I am personally the best at,” Cory said.
The siblings in the Cremer family grew up swimming together and eventually formed close bonds with one another as well as strong passions for the sport.
“My older brother is the one who got me interested in swimming competitively,” Cory said.
Josie loved swimming too, but something was different when she swam versus when her brothers swam. She would get very easily exhausted.
“[Josie] gets exhausted very easily and has trouble keeping up with us sometimes,” Cory said.
The family soon found out Josie had had heart problems. Her brothers helped her throughout her hard times when she was struggling the most, and when she needed someone to boost her morale.
“She has heart problems that sometimes hold her back when she swims, and as a brother, it is hard to watch her struggle like that when you know there isn’t much you can do to help her. I fully support her and am by her side the whole way,” Cory said.
These heart problems were critical and she would need to have multiple surgeries.
“She has had four open-heart surgeries so far, and it is very scary every time she goes into one because she was expected to not make it through them all,” Cory said.
Although times can be hard for Josie and her family, everyone, especially Cory, is still very encouraging and helpful.
“When she gets good times, it makes me excited to know that she is actually doing good. It’s also very heartwarming that the coaches are helping her and pushing her to her full potential, and to get better despite her setbacks,” Cory said.
Her family enjoys seeing her do what she loves and watching her strive to be the best she can be.
“It makes me happy that she is able to push through her challenges and overcome them for herself,” Cory said.
The entire swim team is supportive of Josie and loves watching her succeed. They cheer her on during each of her events and encourage her to do the best she can.
“When she is able to push through her hardships and do better than she has before and even better than she had last year, it’s really great for her and the team. It helps the rest of the team because everyone cheers for her and then everyone gets excited and ready for their own races, so they do better and have more confidence,” Cory said.
Josie loves the family vibe that she gets from all of her friends and coaches, and that is her favorite thing about swimming.
“What I like the most about swimming is when we have pasta parties and can come together like the big family that we are,” junior Josie said.
People who do know Josie and the challenges she has had to overcome are all inspired by her will to strive to the top and not let her problems get in the way of her favorite thing to do: swim.
Cory said, “she has inspired me to always do the very best that I can. She is also a constant reminder that I should never give up no matter how hard things may get.”