The previous year before I dove in high school, Pam Aagard was my diving coach for middle school. Even though I started diving my eighth grade year of middle school, I was pretty good at diving. On our first day of practice with almost fifty other swimmers and divers, I knew it was going to be a hectic day. As I walked in through the doors of the Worland Community Pool and sat on the deck already in my swim suit the head coach, Dawn Bellis, asked us a question.
“If there is anyone interested in diving please raise your hand.”
Myself just being just a newbie at this sport, I was terrified of water. In fact, as I sat there I said to myself over and over again.
“Why am I here? I don’t know how to swim at all, nonetheless dive.”
“The only thing I am good at is being rescued by a life guard.”
Instead of backing out and quitting, I did what I would never have thought I would have done in a million years. I took the chance and raised my hand in front of fifty other middle school kids.
Dawn stated, “Okay please go over to the diving board and you will meet with the diving coach, Mrs. Aagard.”
As I walked over to the board, I think I almost had a heart attack; however, Mrs. Aagard helped me a lot on the first day of practice. The very first thing Mrs. Aagard made me learn was an approach.
All I thought about was, “What the heck is an approach?” “You have to learn how to walk in diving, are you kidding me?”
She made all the divers learn an approach as they had to have one before they could go off the board. As competitive as I was, I never told myself I could not get this thing down. So as I walked on the concrete floor, walking back and forth learning a four-step approach, I had finally got that down.
Next Mrs. Aagard told...
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... from my mother continuing my education at the collegiate level as well as the athletic level too. Not many people I have told about what a great opportunity I get to have at the University of Wyoming, but now with the people who do know I will continue to dive at the Division I level with a coach who has not only coached the U.S. national team in China but is planning on taking divers of his own to the Olympic trials in 2016. Yahya, soon to be my collegiate diving coach has great plans in store, I know it. And the thing I would like to take with me later on in life is that no matter what you are going through there are people who care for you in this world. With the people who care for me today, I do not know where I would be. And I would like to thank everyone who has been there for me and has pushed me not only with my life, but with my athletics and academics.
Imagine swimming in the big Olympic pools. All you can hear is the muffled noises of ecstatic fans cheering. All you can feel is the water urging you to keep swimming. Then you reach your hand out and feel the wall. You emerge out of the crystal blue pool water and have won! Michael Phelps and Dara Torres are two extraordinary swimmers who live their lives in the Olympic pools. Both Torres Is Tops and Michael’s Magic deal with the challenges and successes of Dara and Michael’s Olympic careers, but they do so in different ways. Let’s start our swim through the lives of these two Olympic champions.
Forty hands shot up pointing towards the bottom of the old twisty slide following the long dreadful whistle no one ever wants to hear. Two other lifeguards and I jumped up off the shaded break bench and rushed towards the scene with the heavy backboard and AED bag in hand. The routine save played like a movie through my head as I arrived. I stopped. I knew from there on out this wasn't going to be emotionally an easy save. It wasn't a child who swallowed too much water or an adult who got nervous because they forgot how to swim, it was a fellow lifeguard, a friend.
Betty had a good start to her career. She preformed at country fairs and rodeos. Betty learned that her talent isn’t enough to make her successful, and there was always more work to be done. Betty’s natural talent made it easier for her to learn ballet from her instructor. She hadn’t learned the basics right and she became very frustrated because she had to go back to the beginning and learn those basics.
Ms. Letter helped me see that everyone learns differently. She also taught me that every topic can be broken down and related to something else in life. I have used this idea in coaching for my athletes. Taking topics we cover in practice and showing the athletes where else the topic can apply in
Bzzzza, Bzzzza, Bzzzza; “alright here we go”, I think to myself, as I sleepily roll out of bed at 8:00am, on March, 4 2001. I put on some pants, a shirt, shoes and grab a coat. As quick as I am up, I am out (of) the door. I get in my car and make my way towards the hockey rink, for a team breakfast. The eight minute car ride to the rink, I am thinking of only one thing, to take home a state championship this afternoon.
A time that I did something that I thought I couldn't do, was to stick up for others. When I was in sixth grade, during recess, I saw a girl named Melissa crying. I went up to her and asked what was wrong. She said that people were talking about her behind her back, and that she felt awkward around them. I consoled her by letting her know that friends don't talk behind friends backs and that you have other people that you can talk to during recess. It bothered me how Melissa was sad. She felt a little better after we talked and then we played games.
A couple of weeks ago, I was challenged to break a board with my bare hand. On the board, I wrote down some obstacles that prevent me from pursuing things I want to achieve. After breaking the board with my bare hand, I've never felt more alive.
As part of my research, I took the liberty of interviewing a woman whom I have grown dearly close. I first met Ann when I was a little girl near the age of four just after I had discovered my love of ice skating. This love grew and eventually become somewhat of an obsession of mine; I looked up to Ann who was a Senior rated figure skating coach. I did not dream of going to the Olympics, rather I dreamt of becoming a coach like Ann.
...oked up too, I wanted to be just like him (a state champion and on the Hall of Fame). Often my name is read in the paper for my accomplishments, and one thing I do know that as I get older I know I will be forgotten. But that never will overcome me. I will remember what I have done, and I know someone out their will go to WHS and be just as great if not greater than me. One thing that I often remember, is that even though I may be forgotten in the future I remember all from the past and the accomplishments I have made. And that person that is out there that beats my record I will congratulate them because records are meant to be broken. However, I will still have some emotional attachment as an athlete in diving. So indeed there is sadness in an athlete in three ways, disappointment, discouraged, and finally sadness.
For me, it was a profound experience to be coached by her, as I was learning not only the art of skating, but also many things that one can learn from a wise person. I treasure her advice very much.
Divers cannot put the equipment on and immediately dive in. Before diving there are a series of procedures the diver and their partners must do before going down. In addition, the further down the diver dives the more pressure pressing down on the diver which lessens the amount of oxygen in the scuba tank. Therefore, the further down the diver dives the less time the diver can spend on the bottom. But now, by far the largest group of divers is “Recreational Divers”. These dives are practiced at depths of less than 130 feet, from these depths, divers can make a straight ascent to the surface. Diving beyond this limit requires advanced training. Also, when diving the diver must take into account the amount of time spent descending and ascending in the water. If the diver descends too quickly the pressure can deflate their lungs and cause problems. Similarly, if they ascend too quickly nitrogen bubbles can form under the diver’s skin causing bends or decompression sickness. This sickness can be extremely harmful and possibly fatal. Lastly, a dive watch or computer is needed to calculate the amount of oxygen left in their tank and the depth. Dive computers help the divers be aware of their conditions and keep them
PADI web services, The Way The World Learns To dive. 2008. Web. 12 Jul 2010 http://www.padi.com/scuba/privacy-policy/default.aspx
Changing my life for an education that will follow me with an eye like an eagle. I decide to attend college for my second time to have the ideal of how to run a business with my Culinary Art Degree. Year of 2011 I revived to blessing my Associated in Culinary Arts and my beautiful daughter. After follow my dream that my grandmother started for me when I was nine made me so happy to graduate. So I decide to go back to college at Strayer University to get my bachelor degree in Business Management that play role in cooking, if you want to open your own restaurant. The Journey whom which, my daughter can continued my ledge from her great grandmother, grandmother, and a mother. That will be the most happily feeling ever.
3 James E. Counsilman and Brian E. Counsilman, The New Science of Swimming, (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994) 6-7
With shaky knees, I hesitantly made my way up the large white steps. With the back of my hand, I brushed away a few salty tears of relief. As I stood at the top of the podium and looked up into the packed stadium, my mind drifted back to everything I had gone through to achieve this moment, the day I became a state champion.