Bret Lundgaard is the head coach for Women’s Swimming and Diving, and led the Tigers to an Ivy League Championship before the COVID-19 pandemic suspended NCAA athletics. Forrest Meggers is an assistant professor of architecture, who founded and directs the University’s CHAOS (Cooling and Heating for Architecturally Optimized Systems) Lab.
Prior to COVID-19, Meggers’ wife, Dr. Georgette Stern, and Lundgaard met with The Daily Princetonian in Frist Campus Center — not to discuss swimming, architecture, cooling, or heating — but to chaperone the subjects of this interview: five-year-old Izzy Lundgaard and her lifelong best friend, four-and-a-half-year-old Luna Meggers. Below, the inseparable pair discuss their career aspirations, marriage, and the dangers of black holes.
The Daily Princetonian: How old are you guys?
Luna: I’m four and a half, and she’s five.
DP: Are you guys in school yet?
Luna: Yes. Pre-K.
DP: What’s your favorite thing to learn about?
Luna and Izzy (in unison): Numbers.
Izzy: I like to learn about space.
Luna: I like to learn about cheetahs and lions.
DP: Luna, do you want to do that when you grow up, work with animals?
Luna: Yes.
DP: Izzy, do you want to work with space when you grow up?
Luna: If you do that you’re gonna get in a black hole.
Izzy: I’m not gonna do that.
DP: Izzy, do you go to a lot of your dad’s swim meets?
Izzy: Nods.
DP: Do you root for him or for the other team?
After a few, tenuous seconds, Izzy points to her dad.
DP: What is your favorite thing to do together?
Luna and Izzy (in unison): Play! Outside. Ride bikes. And [with a giggle] marry.
DP: Do you guys like to swim?
Izzy: When I was a baby, I loved to swim.
Luna: Yeah, both of us love to swim!
Izzy: No — I love to swim more.
Luna: Yeah, I love to swim too.
Izzy: No, I love to swim.
Luna: Me too.
A fierce debate ensues.
DP: We’ll call it a tie. Where do you like to swim?
Luna: I go to the one where we have smoothies. And ice cream [Community Park].
DP: Do you have favorite buildings on campus?
Luna: We love going through tunnels [read: archways] biking.
DP: Do you guys ever go to the beach?
Luna: One time we went and they buried us, and we wanted to stay in because it was so hot.
DP: What’s your favorite thing to do at the beach, bury each other?
Luna: Yeah, we buried each other once when we were together.
Izzy: And once I buried my dad.
Luna: Wait, did you cover his whole face?
Izzy: No! We made a little pillow for him.
DP: Do you guys have a favorite movie?
Izzy: My favorite movie is “Frozen.”
Luna: “Woody the Woodpecker”.
Izzy: I like “Puppy Power” too.
Luna: Yeah, I like “Puppy Power.”
Izzy: No — you don’t know “Puppy Power.”
Luna: And “Secret Life of Pets.”
DP: Do you guys have any pets?
Luna: No.
Izzy: I do. I have two dogs, two cats, and I used to have two fish but one died, so I don’t have one anymore.
DP: Who’s your favorite pet?
Izzy: My fish. KC.
DP: Do you guys have a favorite book?
Izzy: “Under the Sea.”
Luna: “Hilo.” It’s a graphic novel. It’s about a boy who crashed into Earth.
DP: Do you guys have any siblings?
Luna: I do. I got Maelyn and Eila and Luzi. And Luzi has a trumpet. Maelyn and Eila are twins, they’re six. Luzi is eight.
Izzy: I do. I think she’s four months old.
DP: What’s your sister’s name?
Izzy: Soleil.
DP: Do you like being an older sibling?
Izzy: Yes. She’s just so cute!
DP: Are you guys doing anything fun the rest of the day?
Luna: Going swimming!
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