Maui whiz kid
helps bring
home the gold
Nicholas Jachowski played
a crucial role at the International
Geographic OlympiadBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.comName the gulf in the Ionian Sea that is southeast of Italy. Nicholas Jachowski answered: Gulf of Taranto.
Name the bug in Central and East Africa that spreads a lot of disease. The 14-year-old Maui boy replied: Tsetse fly.
The U.S. team at the Fifth International Geographic Olympiad in Vancouver, Canada, got all the questions correct until the seventh round when it was presented with a weather graph along with the names of four cities and asked to pick the city matching the diagram. The Canadian and Hungarian teams also selected the wrong answers, but the U.S. team had an insurmountable lead going into the eighth and final round.
"I was shaking a little bit during the competition. I felt nervous. I was just hoping to get questions that I knew, and that happened," he said.
Jachowski and other members on the U.S. team took first place in the Olympiad, defeating teams from 11 other countries.
"I feel like I'm on top of the world," said Jachowski of Pukalani, Maui. "It's cool to know you're on the team that was the best in the world."
In the finals yesterday, the U.S. team defeated Canada and Hungary.
Jachowski said he studied between two and five hours daily for two years and was grateful for the support given him by his parents and teachers.
Jachowski said all the team members usually knew the answers to questions, but there was one answer he knew that made a difference and came as a result of living in Hawaii.
At a preliminary round, the U.S. team was shown a glass ball and asked what country made the glass ball as a fishing float.
"I knew it was Japan, and the rest of them weren't sure," he said.
Jachowski, who will be in the ninth grade at Maui High School, said he and other team members received a gold medal "the size of a big cookie."
The final round is expected to be aired on the National Geographic channel in the United States in late September. Coincidentally, Jachowski, who graduated from the eighth grade at Kalama Intermediate School, said he wants to become a writer or photographer for National Geographic.
He said while at the competition, he spoke with a National Geographic writer who had just done a story about Xian, China, and was going back to China next week.
"He gets to travel around the world a lot," Jachowski said.
Jachowski said his family, who attended the competition, was happy with the outcome, and he was excited about traveling today with them to Southern California on a vacation to Disneyland and rock climbing next week at Yosemite National Park.
"It was really, really exciting," said Jachowski's mother, Maile Jachowski, a Maui pediatrician. "They had a great experience."
Nicholas' father, Doug Jachowski, an engineering consultant, said his family was cheering for all the teams, and the U.S. team enjoyed meeting youths from other nations.
"They were very lucky to be there," he said. "Our kids did really well."
For Nicholas, it's been an outstanding year.
In addition to the International Geographic Olympiad gold, he has placed third in the Hawaii State Spelling Bee, 10th in the state Math Counts competition, first in the Hawaii State Geography Bee and second in the U.S. National Geographic Bee.
Jachowski said when he returns to Maui, he plans to create a display case where he can put his gold medal next to his other medals.
He said under Olympiad rules, winners cannot compete again. He does not know what he will be doing in the coming year, but he is game.
"I'm looking for other competitions," he said.