An interest I am most proud of is my career in competitive gymnastics. When I first began gymnastics, I did it recreationally, but I soon fell in love with it and decided to compete. I am now into my fourth competition season. I have competed at meets all over California, and have practiced hundreds of hours. Gymnastics requires hard work and dedication, but it is worth it because I genuinely love the sport. The skills are amazing, and it is a well-rounded sport that requires grace, strength, and flexibility. I have sacrificed many hours for gymnastics, but I have gotten a lot from it in return. I have met one of my best friends at gymnastics and some of my coaches have become like family to me. I have also discovered a lot about myself. Doing…
“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of detrimination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort (Jesse Owens, Olympic Trackstar),” I do not fear the unknown; I fear the day I stop trying to be the best. I cannot change that currently, people are faster than me, but that shouldn’t stop me from taking lead and becoming the best. Each time I race, I think of the pride I will feel afterwards if I give it my all, to take home a win, but also I think of the shame and humiliation I will feel if I don’t. Even if I am not currently the best, I know one day my hard work and mental toughness will pay off in some way, because it’s how badly I want to be the champion, and that is what I work for everyday of…
When I was on the swim team during my sophomore year, I became a leader and lead our swim team to victory. The first few meets that buffalo grove high school participated in, victory did not seem like a possibility. Fortunately , with intense training from our new coaches and leadership skills from the older swimmers, we were able to turn that losing streak around into a glamorous victory. When the time came around for the practice 5 days before the meet. Ultimately my strategy was the 100 x 100’s. A combination of back to back butterfly , breaststroke, and freestyle, with only 7 second breaks in between each stroke. Unfortanatley, that was one of the most excruciating practices the BGHS swim team had experienced in the 2014 season. Although…
As a child, I was outgoing and talkative, but in 4th grade, I became more self-conscious and shy. That summer, I signed up for The Oak Ridge Otters Summer Swim Team. I was nervous to join because I knew no one. It felt like everyone was judging me for being the new member. A group of teens, maybe in middle school at the time, noticed that I looked lonely and called me over. They talked to me and introduced kids my age. They made me feel less nervous and excited to continue to swim. This was the first team that showed sports wasn’t about the sport itself, but also growing friendship and memories. The middle schoolers also taught me to include others and not to ignore someone for being aloof.…
Hi! I’m Dr. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. I’m a former National level swimmer and am the developer of the dryland for swimming system, I have been around the sport for many years. I know what it is like to swim on a small club team doing their best to provide a dryland program. I know first hand what it is like to swim at a big division university. Now, as a strength coach and physical therapist, I work with clubs of many different…
The entire first week, I was stuck with the coach to work on my diving. He kept repeating that I should dive with my head instead of my whole body. While my body and my mind told me, "Quit! Quit!" in my heart, I felt that quitting was not the right response. I wanted to become as good a swimmer as my teammates.…
I grew up in a family where I was constantly told “girls should not play sport”. It has been very challenging for me from a very young age but other people’s opinions never stopped me doing what I wanted to do. Instead of letting it have a negative impact on me, playing sports gave me the drive and motivation to set myself challenging but realistic goals not only in my performance but goals regarding my current life affairs. As I grew older I started questioning how humans are able to carry out certain skills and movements within sport. This helped me gain an interest in trying to understand how the human body works.…
It was my first day of practice for high school swimming. There I was- a scrawny freshman, idolizing these upperclassmen who towered above me. Being the only freshman in my class, my coach had me train alongside these giants. I remember the countless morning practices, which always involved grueling endurance sets, where my teammates lapped me constantly while I struggled to make the intervals; feeling disappointed in myself, but determined to continue working hard in order to catch up to my teammates. However, even those grueling workouts could not compare to Christmas break that year. A whole week of practices that were near impossible for my teammates, and absolute torture for me. I will never forget one set from that week. It was a set of 32x150s with a descending interval every four. By the last eight, I was no longer making the interval and struggling to keep up with my teammates, who ended up lapping me, as usual. But I still put every ounce of effort I had into that set, and swam every lap long after everyone else had finished. I challenged myself with a fierce determination to…
Ten years ago, my favorite pastime, and still to this day, is to run and compete in track and cross country. Back when my grade school had recess,my classmates and i would compete by running from one side of the field to the other mainly to see who happened to be the fastest of the classes but also to show the coaches what we were capable of doing so in a near future they could assign us a spot in the elementary track team. This is where my passion for running ignited. The adrenaline that rushed through my veins when i ran had a satisfying feeling, especially when i came out in the lead by a few meters. Ten years later, after winning countless cross country and track meets,that same feeling flows like a river as if the rivers were my veins.…
As a sophomore in high school, I have taken part in a variety competitions ranging from athletics, to academics, and even competitive games for entertainment. Nonetheless, I hardly cared about my success in the majority of them; I didn't care enough to try, probably due to my lack of motivation, or the fact that I was forced into competing through peer pressure, or the high expectations of my family. However, one should always strive for success in everything they do, no matter how small the task; this is a lesson I learned through competing in my school’s Future Business Leaders of America club over the last year.…
I know that without a doubt no one wants this more than I do. I've dedicated three hours out of my day, five days a week to increase my swimming performance and decrease my physical screening test swim…
Sports have always played an important role in my life. Growing up my parents encouraged me and my brother to try a multitude of sports. From a very young age, my parents urged us to play what they categorized as a “life sports” along with team sports. In their eyes, a life sport is an activity you can play throughout your life. I continue to play golf, paddle tennis, tennis, and skiing today. During my elementary and middle school days I always wanted to be a part of a team, enjoying the comradery that came along with it. The sports I played included soccer, ice-hockey, lacrosse, and field-hockey. Eventually giving up soccer, I focused solely on stick sports. Playing these three sports allowed me to make many friends that…
How Being a Member of An Athletic Team Has Helped Me Grow As a Person…
Throughout high school, my life has been consumed by sports. Being a student athlete has made me become the person I am today. Ever since I was sixteen, I have also worked at a daycare in town, TASK. This has showed me how much little kids look up to student athletes. Working at TASK has also showed me how much these little kids want to grow up and be like us student athletes. Without sports and working at the daycare, I would not be the role model I am today. Since working at the daycare, I have realized I want to be the person little girls are talking about when they say, “I want to grow up and be just like her.” Being chosen team captain has made me into the leader I am. I have learned how to push my teammates…
Swimming and water polo have changed my life is some many positive aspects that I cant even believe it. If it weren’t for swimming, my life would probably be a living hell. I believe in hard work, dedication and…