Swimming is not an easy sport!! That said, I’m so proud of all the girls who swam in the Olympic trials this past week and a half, accomplishing everything I could only ever dream of doing. One of them was a girl I used to watch play on the pool deck while her brothers were at swim practice. I’ve swam with them and trained with them, and watching them race with other world-class swimmers and succeed at such a young age is just unreal!!
Sometimes you look at them and can’t help but think, I could have worked harder. But in reality, it’s just not like that. As much as we’d like to believe it, plain hard work isn’t going to get us everything. I don’t want to discredit those who made it to the Olympics by writing it off as just talent, though.
I’ve seen firsthand just how hard these girls work. They train more than 30 hours a week, and that’s on top of all their schoolwork. Not to mention working around the pandemic the past year. Swim practice, dryland, weights, yoga, cardio. It’s not a fun lifestyle, but it all paid off in the end! Things like this only happen when you take that talent and refine it.
The whole team—coaches, current swimmers, and alumni alike—they’re all so, so proud of the three who made it. We can’t wait to watch them all in Tokyo!