Professional Sports - Top Professional Athletes' Stories! » Swimming

Willed to Swim

VeRonda Wicks — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:51:14 +0000

The 2008 Summer Olympics have come to an end, but moving stories of life, achievement, and persevering just keep rolling in…

Natalie du Toit is a 24-year-old South African amputee, who fell victim to a life-changing motorcycle accident. With a prosthetic leg and a lot of courage, du Toit went out to contend for a medal in the marathon swimming games (Yes! And, she actually did it after removing the prosthetic.). Now, she didn’t win (came in 16^th), but she was excited about actually just doing it. She said she left it all in the water.

She didn’t focus on her disability, rather she just went into the open water and sojourned. Best of all, she was an Olympian.

Go Natalie… can’t wait to see you in the 2012 Olympics in London!

Phelps Looks for “That” Face

VeRonda Wicks — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:33:33 +0000

Isn’t Michael Phelps, a forerunner in Men’s Swimming, showing such skill and passion in Beijing as he competes at the 2008 Summer Olympics? It is so exciting to watch how committed he is to his sport and to his teammates. It speaks a great deal about his character and quest for gold.

Karen Blaha

What also caught my eye was how Phelps, after winning and standing there at the three-tiered podium (on the top tier of course), scanned the stadium seats for his mom. No matter what was going on, you didn’t see comfort in his eyes until he spotted “that” face.

It was the face that raised him, that encouraged when trouble was all around him. It was that face that he could rely on to be at every meet and to say just the right thing that would console him after a defeat. It was the only face that he looked for and could you blame him?

A mother’s love is as empowering as it is powerful. Go moms (And, oh, yeah, go for the gold, Mike!)!

Despite the Odds…

VeRonda Wicks — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:16:35 +0000

Man… I’m sitting here thinking how to even begin this story. Just when you think you’ve seen or heard an amazing story, another one just crashes through. And, no matter what your stance is on this story, you’ll have to give this guy his propers (Bigups!) for such a passionate display.

This 24-year-old guy, Eric Shanteau, competed in the Olympic swimming trials, coming in at second place. With his finishing time, he was able to grab a spot on the 2008 Olympic swimming team. A once in a life time event being held in Beijing, Shanteau was presented with a choice (or maybe he didn’t think of it as a choice at all). He was diagnosed with testicular cancer a week prior to the trials and with this news, this champion decided to continue his quest for gold and go on to Beijing (Wow, right?).

Shanteau will have to face surgery, but it will happen after he comes back home. Maintaining that he’s not being naïve about the matter, Shanteau is having doctors monitor him closely during his time away. Apparently, his feelings are that the Olympics may be his once in a lifetime experience and he doesn’t want to miss out on that…

A courageous one indeed, what is your stance on Shanteau’s decision and have you ever found yourself in a once in a lifetime situation (It doesn’t have to be sports related.)?