Ending 2011 On A High Note

I apologize for being a HORRIBLE blogger! I only have free time when I'm on break and it has FINALLY arrived! I usually never do this, but for the past 4-5 hours I've been watching old episodes of The New Girl (I completely recommend watching it!) and just not doing anything. Now it's time to finally give an update!

I'm so glad finals are over! It was way too stressful, it was just bad. There were times when I spent too many hours writing papers, studying, writing more papers, then going back to studying. So happy I finally have a chance to breathe!

So my last blog was in October before I left for the San Diego Triathlon, my favorite weekend in the year. You would think that San Diego would be warm in October, but for some reason it was as cold, if not colder than Connecticut! I packed shorts and summer clothes, but the whole time I was freezing!!  Despite the weather, I LOVED seeing my friends from the Challenged Athletes Foundation. My family and I had a great time at the swim clinic on Saturday and Sunday was the big swim. Again, the air was pretty cold, but I thought a mile swim would be doable as I've done longer distances before. I had my swim buddies with me, Felicia and Tony and we just went for it! The water was FREEZING! 60ish degrees! I've never felt my face that cold before. Except for the temperature, everything else was going great; however, we were a half mile in and I was still shivering. It's not good to keep my muscles cold so I decided that I should get out, risking my health just wasn't worth it. I then went to the emergency tent and found out I caught a chase of hypothermia; so glad I decided to get out! I definitely don't regret going out to San Diego as I absolutely love CAF and catching up with my friends Scout Bassett, Ryan Levinson, and others. I hope that next year the water's warmer!

The week after San Diego I had my first swim meet of the season with my CCAT team. We hosted it in a 25 meter pool which is pretty uncommon to do these days, but it was so much fun! Loved cheering on my team and at that time I was 4 seconds away from breaking the 1998 100 Back American Record...so close! I know next time we have a meet there, I'm pretty sure I'll break it!


During the month of November my training was intensified to training 6-7 days a week. I swam 4x, lifted 2-3x and cycled before swim practice. Granted, there were times when I had to let my body rest whether I got sick or I needed to give myself more time to recover. During this training period my AMAZING longtime friend, Scout Bassett, came to Trinity for a few days! Scout spoke to our students about her life story, invited by our WGRAC group, and I'm beyond grateful that she came!! Scout stayed with me in my dorm and we had so much fun during her stay! Is there a such thing of having too much fun, because I think we were pretty close to that! If you don't know Scout, I'd recommend Googling her name and just read the first few articles that come up. Scout is one amazing friend to me, I love her, we have so much in common, I could go on and on about her...she's basically amazing. I'm so blessed to have her as a friend.

I'd say about 2 weeks after Scout's stay I had a swim meet at Harvard. I woke up at 4 am to drive into Cambridge and swim at 7 in the morning; you gotta love it! Can I just say that Harvard's pool is AMAZING...period! So I was first heat first event for the 50 free and what happens to me? My goggles filled up with water as soon as I dove in...oh of course that would happen right?! No worries though, I immediately threw them off and swam without seeing where I was going! I do have to say, regardless of the slowish time, it was pretty entertaining. 100 back was next and with the new adjusted stroke (oh, my coach changed my stroke a week before) I dropped roughly 30 seconds! Who does that?! From my first meet of the season (3:40) I went down to a 3:11...crazy! So needless to say I left Harvard feeling pretty happy and had to buy myself a Harvard swimming sweatshirt of course!

Between this time and the end of the semester, I was training and really concentrating on my grades. Those were the only two things I needed to concentrate on with no distractions whatsoever. I seriously cannot get over all the work professors give us during finals, but that's another story. The end of the semester left me feeling BEYOND exhausted!

So last Saturday was my most recent swim meet. I was registered for the 200 Back and 150 IM. The week prior, I was going under the American Record times for both events during practice, so I was definitely looking forward to swimming at Wesleyan. So I decided to wear my Lazer and swim fast enough to make these new records official. Wow, I was not expecting to go that fast! To make the 200 Back American Record I needed to get under an 8:32, during practice I was going 6:30s, and that day I went a 5:57! And on top of that, I broke the 2006 100 Back American Record (2:53) by going out for my first 100 in a 2:52! Then, to break the 150 IM I needed to get under a 6:57 and I did a 5:31! The 150 IM was a personal best regardless of having an injury and I couldn't be happier with those swims! The 100 and 200 back were 5-10 seconds off my best times before my injury, so I was on cloud 9! I loved having my teammates there and some of my friends from high school cheer me on (shout out to Laura and Jackie)! That was an absolutely amazing day for me and I'm looking forward to experiencing more like moments.

What still shocks me is that I'm doing half the work I use to do when I use to get those times. The only thing I can conclude is I'm more water efficient than ever, training smarter, listening to my body and knowing it's okay to stop, and I'm surrounded by the best coaches and trainers who know my body. I'm finally getting all the right things together and there's no better time to have that. I couldn't be happier with where things are going...I really couldn't.

At the moment, I only have 2 weeks off of school and then January I'm taking a winter class to graduate on time. On top of that I'll still be training and going to swim meets. My second semester looks busier than ever. I'll be interning for CT's Senate Majority Leader (18 hour work week), taking classes, and training. It's going to be so busy, but I'm ready for it, I love keeping busy and am really looking forward to my internship!


My friend, Laura, gave me a congratulations card for my swims and on the cover it said, "Success comes to those who never stop dreaming". Now, without getting too corny, it is pretty true. No matter what challenges I've faced, I've always kept dreaming, kept pursuing my passion, and kept going. Whenever I want to quit, I always picture my 7 year-old self dressed as an Olympic swimmer for Halloween telling me to keep pushing forward. And I couldn't be happier where things are going for me. I'm so glad to end 2011 this way and ring in 2012 with more positivity than ever before. I'm living out my childhood dream and becoming the person I always dreamed of...how could that not bring a smile to my face?

:)

New Beginnings

I've been meaning to write another entry as I realized my last one was in July and I finally have some free time.

So what have I been up to lately? Just training and college life. It sounds like a pretty simple schedule, but trust me I'm occupied, but I like it that way.

Finally I'm getting things right my junior year. Unlike last year due to my late transfer, I'm finally living on campus and absolutely loving it. I lucked out with an amazing roomie :) and I finally have a class schedule I like and professors who make the class material interesting. My favorite class so far is about immigrants and refugees. Part of our requirement is to spend time with an immigrant or refugee once a week. I've been tutoring a refugee from Africa in Anatomy and I'm learning more than I could ever  imagine if I was just reading a book. Other than my classes, I'm in the process of starting a Toastmaster's Public Speaking Club, coordinating an event on campus for International Disability Day, and hosting my good friend, Scout Bassett, to speak at Trinity next month. In addition to that I'm in the process of applying for some internships at the UN and the state legislature. And when I have free time on Wednesdays I'll be helping out my high school swim team with stroke technique. Yup, I'm busy...


As for training, it's going amazingly well. I'm doing all of my training off campus; swim practice and weights in the morning before my classes. My routine usually consists of training at a local pool during the week with my coach's workouts and then traveling down state to practice with my team on weekends. I then do weight training with my trainer/therapist 1-2x a week. I'm concentrating on improving my upper body now so most of  my land exercises are more specific to that area. As I had to start from the ground up after my injury, I can now say I'm roughly 2-5 seconds away from my old times. This is great news as I'm training differently than I was prior to my injury as I'm not using certain muscles and relying more on my upper body in order to be water efficient. Although I still have so much work to tackle in order to have a legitimate shot for trials next June, at least I know I'm on the right track with training and I'm certainly optimistic.

Words cannot describe how excited I am for the San Diego Triathlon next weekend sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation! That is going to be one busy weekend as I leave next Friday, the triathlon's Sunday, and then arrive back at school Monday night...and I have a 10 page paper due too. I'm planning to do all my work on the flight as it's about 6 hours. For the tri, I'm just doing the swim portion, it's a mile in the Pacific, and the water's suppose to be low 60s/high 50s. I've swam in mid 60s before, so I don't think there'll be that much of a difference. I'm looking forward to spending time with my friends who will be competing that weekend. I love the positive energy at this triathlon with the amazing people and stories heard about trials and triumphs. It's honestly my favorite weekend out of the entire year.


Stay tuned :)

Summa Summa!

So this is the second time I'm sitting down to finish this entry. Last week I somehow got distracted so I'm determined to finish this tonight!

 

I'm loving summer and there's one week left of July!

So where to begin?

 In June I went to a gala for the Challenged Athletes Foundation as they're one of my sponsors. It was held at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. The event was to raise money for sports grants or equipment for challenged athletes and to thank our supporters. I had an idea of what to expect, but that night was better than anything I could have imagined! There were some amazing stories from athletes about their challenges and successes. CAF does a great job of showing athletes, supporters, and others that anything is possible and there's no reason to give up. I loved seeing my other athlete/friends dressed up instead of dressed for a swim meet or triathlon. The event ended with a performance by Macy Gray which was amazing, she has such a great voice! Us athletes went on stage for her last performance and danced to her last song. :) I left that night feeling inspired and grateful to have CAF support countless athletes across the world and all together we raised $1.4 million! Above is a picture of myself and my friend, Paratriathlete World Champion, Melissa Stockwell at the gala.

This past week I had a national meet up in Quebec. It was only to get looked at by the paralympic classifiers  due to my previous nerve injury. As the paralympics are divided into different classes based on function, I knew I should be looked at again so I can compete against people with similar mobility as me. I really had no clue what to expect as the process consists of a long muscle test followed by some swimming, but I went in with an open mind. The meet started on Friday and I was classified on Thursday. Late afternoon that day (Thursday)  the classifiers decided to drop me to a lower mobility class...I was relieved that the stressful process was over. That was bittersweet; bitter in the sense of knowing you're slightly weaker, but sweet that you're competing against others with similar mobility. So the next morning I had the 100 free prelims and dropped roughly 15 seconds since last month! I was beyond happy and then the classifiers came over to my coach and I and asked if I could get muscle tested again for my right arm. Again I started to become stressed. They wanted to figure out why on land I can't lift my arm, but for my backstroke I can lift it straight out of the water. Even I don't know how it's possible, but since they came up with the same results again the classifiers officially left me in my new class. At least I know the classifiers are very thorough and really make sure that each athlete competes fairly.

Saturday I swam the 50 free and breastroke. I'm not a breastroker so I wasn't looking forward to that event, but I dropped 9 seconds since the last time I swam it at a big meet! I was certainly shocked and to top it off I dropped another 10 seconds on my 50 free since last month! That's just unheard of! Sunday I swam 50 back and dropped 14 seconds since last month...again! That was crazy! I brought home 3 golds out of 4 events too. And best of all during that whole meet, I had absolutely NO nerve pain!

So overall I dropped over 30 seconds since June and am 30 seconds under world ranking cuts! I'm now only 10 seconds away from my old times before my injury and have to drop an additional 5 to make the London cuts! I can do this, I can really do this, especially with my new training schedule and great team I have. I feel really hopeful about making the London cuts with the way I've been dropping time, but I'm taking each day at a time. I've realized that swimming is not my whole life, a passion and keeping my muscles in shape, but not the end all. Regardless with what happens at trials next year, I'm going to keep on swimming.:)


Other than swimming and training, I'll be working at Hospital for Special Care's Ivan Lendl Adaptive Sports Camp in a few weeks. My job is to be a counselor, but to also improve on how the camp can be more accommodating to children with Muscular Dystrophy and neurological disorders. Most people don't know that someone with MD can fatigue very quickly out in the heat or that taking multiple rests is very beneficial while being active. I'm excited to work with the kids and ultimately see what I can do to bring more kids with MD out of the house and on the court, deck, or track.


I saw Rihanna a couple days ago and she was amazing! Sounds exactly like she does on the radio without lip singing. I love her hair and want her hair cut, but without the red lol ;)

Summa summa summa time!

Nothing Is A Coincidence

I'm happy to say that I've been very busy from increasing my training, going to appointments, to spending time with friends!

Over the past 2 weeks, I've had the opportunity to meet people who have touched and changed my perspective. Leaving a physical therapy appointment, I had a father come up to my mom and I as we were getting into the car. As his son was following him, I saw that this young boy was wearing the same spring shoes as me. The father introduced himself, his son, and then said, "If I didn't read about you in the Hartford Courant back in 2008, my son with Duchenes would not be walking and in great health right now". He went on to say how his son swims, is gluten free, and goes to physical therapy. That shocked me. I've never had someone else with Muscular Dystrophy follow all the things I've done before and also see the benefits. I know there's a lot of other things that play into this picture, like family support, and I could tell this young boy certain gets that. This boy was 9 years old with Duchenes and he was still walking...amazing, and the father saying that it was all because they read about me? That's very profound and I'm honored to not just inspire, but empower others. That was the most humbling and rewarding feeling I've ever had, better than receiving any award or medal.

I started training and swimming only to pursue a paralympic goal that I'm still working towards. I'd never expected to be improving lives along the way, but meeting that young boy gives me more motivation to keep going forward and showing what is possible.

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend Hospital for Special Care's Annual Donor Reception. The reception mostly talked about how programs have improved and thanking donor's support throughout the year. One person who attended was Dr. Petit, founder of the Petit Foundation. For those who don't know Dr. Petit, him and his family were victims of a horrific home invasion and only Dr. Petit survived. Even though he experienced this tragedy, Dr. Petit is still active in community service and giving back to others. I had the pleasure of meeting him that night.  I was deeply touched on how peaceful and humble he was. I told him how much I admire his courage for freely giving himself in helping others, especially to the hospital. I also mentioned how much I looked up to him and his strength. The only thing he kept saying was thank you and continued to shake my hand. I will forever remember our conversation. That night I took away a new sense of giving to others, thanks to Dr. Petit.

Overall, I feel very honored to meet amazing people along my journey. I don't want to get too sentimental, but at times I feel speechless as to how touched I am their stories. I'm not exactly sure as to why I'm coming across these experiences (not that I want to know why), but what I do know is that nothing is a coincidence.

Summer's Finally Here!

I just finished with my final semester as a sophomore last Thursday and never looked back! I was so stressed on Thursday that I made myself do nothing on Friday...literally nothing and forced myself to feel bored. I've been programmed to go to class, study, go back home, eat, study, run in the water that just doing nothing felt really weird. At first it was fine, I thought it was fun channel surfing, but I like to be busy so I broke my "rule" of not doing anything and went out. 

Last Monday my physical therapist cleared me to start swimming again! After about a month of not doing the things I wanted, I truly felt overjoyed! I do have to say, I was very impressed with myself for running in the water for about a month and not tempted at all to start swimming when no one was looking! The same day I finished my last exam was also my first practice back with my team. Although I was in for about 20 minutes it felt exhilarating and I had no pain! I loved seeing my coaches and teammates too. I'm only swimming a 100 (4 laps) with rest in between each lap, but the plan is to not overdo anything and slowly build back up so I can be training normally by mid/late June. I have a feeling everything is going to work this time.

Also last Monday I had the privilege of speaking at the Hospital for Special Care Ivan Lendl Golf Classic. The event was a fundraiser for the hospital's challenged athlete program which I have been apart of since July 2007. I did feel a bit nervous and stressed as I came from a study session, but I loved meeting our supporters and sponsors. I soon felt fine as I met legendary tennis player, Ivan Lendl, and the family who founded the hospital's disability sports camp. I was told to prepare a speech for roughly 5 minutes and spoke about the benefits of the hospital's athletic program. I mentioned my coach, Joan, and how I remember calling her, asking if I would be able to be on her swim team. I honestly never realized the impact that moment had on me until I reflected for speech material. I just remember feeling so nervous when first talking to her and not knowing if I'd ever be good enough to swim. It's quite rewarding to look back on that experience and see that she's been there for all my national meets and traveled to the Greek Open with me. That's how much the Hospital for Special Care cares about their local athletes, no matter their talents or goals, it's just about getting out there and having fun. That's why at the banquet while standing in front of the podium I was humbled to be with the countless sponsors who keep this athletic program running. And for that I'm deeply grateful. After I finished my speech I soon saw that I was given a standing ovation. I felt honored to be there that night.

As for now, I'm just happy to be back in the water and rebuilding my stamina. I'm taking time out to relax and spend time with friends I haven't seen in a while. I'm SO excited for my cousin's wedding in June! I just bought a dress for that today! I'll be taking a public speaking class which starts in late June and will be going to a swim meet in Canada in July. Those are most of my plans for the summer, but they can always change. Whatever happens, what I know for certain is that summer's finally here!

Making a Door Through a Brick Wall

 In March, I was cleared to swim 3x a week instead of 2 woo!! So my first meet was at Seniors in the beginning of March and wasn't expecting anything dramatic to happen, but I dropped 20 seconds in all 3 events I swum compared to my last meet in November! It was a great weekend because I had no expectations or times I wanted to get and I was with my coaches and teammates...oh...it was my birthday too :)

So taking another step in the right direction, I started to train an extra day. Instead of being a minute off of my times in November/December I got around to being 5 seconds off in practice. The last time I was able to get those times was in July so needless to say I was happy. I had a really big meet coming up in the beginning of April in Minnesota for spring nationals. I knew that this was a selection meet for 2 international teams, but I knew it would be a long shot of me making one with the condition of my arm; however, anything could happen so I didn't cross that situation out of my mind. I also knew that I was doing a lot better (now in the middle of March) and keeping really positive about things, but in the back of my mind I had expectations of doing very well and racing like I wasn't injured; like everything I've gone through in the past 9 months would magically go away. See, I wanted to block out of my mind that I was injured in hopes that I would swim even better than I did at Seniors. I wanted my hard work to show. Obviously trying to make something disappear or ignoring a situation will not make anything better.

I felt really good on the flight to MN. My cousin, Nicolle, came on the trip, so she helped get my mind off of thinking about races. Everything was going well when we landed and got in, but the next day I woke up with tremendous pain in my neck shooting down into my arm. I wasn't in tip-top shape when I left as the day before I was lying on the couch in pain, icing it, and taking medication. I did think to myself why I should be going to this meet if I'm not feeling great and I realized that I wanted motivation to get better; that my goal was to be motivated to get out of this "funk". So, when I got up that first morning in MN, I iced and stretched and had some fun the rest of the day.

The meet started on Thursday with prelims and finals. I registered for 3 events, 50 free and back on Friday and 100 free on Saturday. Prelims were first in the morning 50 back was first; I was pumped and in a good mood. I thought I swam really fast and I felt good in the water; however, my time was 20 seconds off. It took me by surprise, but tried not to analyze my race on thinking what went wrong. I still was pretty bumbed, but tried to forget about it to swim the 50 free. Again, 20 seconds off. Wow, I guess it just wasn't my morning. I was in a pretty low mood, but Nicolle really cheered me up and also some of my friends on deck. I knew this was going on because of my injury...so I went back to the hotel, slept, iced, ate, and went back for finals. I felt a bit better and it showed as I dropped 6 seconds for the 50 free.

The next morning I swam the 100 and just took it easy. I didn't want to make my arm to feel any worse than it already did. I was in pain. I was already icing and taking ibuprofen. The only thing I could do was have fun and stick it out until I got home to see my physical therapist. I had a goal that morning to swim under a time I did in 2008 and I went a second under, so I did what I went out to accomplish. That afternoon things had gotten a bit worse. I still was in pain since the morning and my arm was going numb; it obviously felt fatigued. So I slept and iced again.

That night I didn't warm up for finals. I didn't want to aggravate my arm anymore. I sat next to a table and elevated my arm on my towels, but it still was throbbing. How am I going to swim when I feel like this? Then, I started to think I could just swim with 1 arm, it's just a 100 right? Swimming with 1 arm would take me about 6 minutes though...what's the point? Then, I finally snapped out of it, what was I thinking, why would I put myself through that for a race? It's just 1 race, just 1 swim meet and this is my health, there's no comparison.

So, a heat before I was about to race I scratched. I've never scratched out before as I've always been the one to push myself past my limits. At first I was pretty upset and wanted to take my swim bag and leave, but I passed by some friends I hadn't seen in a while and started to catch up with them. I started to enjoy myself and actually wanted to stay and see the other races. While watching other heats of the 100s I realized how proud I was for realizing the fine line between pushing myself and growing to pushing myself and hurting.

Yah, I didn't have the best meet, but it is what it is...and it's just one meet. I did my best at that time, no matter how corny that sounds. I grew as an athlete and I didn't give up on myself. I had my friends and family around me and I did have fun.

When I got back and saw my therapist he said my injury flared up on the flight due to the seats. At least I know the cause now and fortunately I'm not flying anytime soon.

It's now May and I haven't swam since that meet. I've been rehabbing more, cross training, and to stay in shape using a running belt in the water. Things are definitely improving. I can do more things now with no pain. Hopefully I'll be cleared to swim next week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I titled this entry as "making a door through a brick wall" because of the challenges I've faced with a nerve injury for the past 9 months. Another challenge comes along like a flare up which makes it a bit harder for me to get where I want to go; however, I see my progress. I see the tiny things I wasn't able to do which I can slowly start doing. Those are the little things making my door, in addition to being positive and seeing that just by doing the things I love, I'm not giving up. Swimming is teaching me more about life lessons than about the sport. I know I will look back on these situations and realize that on my weakest day, days, or months, no matter what happens, I'm still getting stronger.

Accomplishing More By Doing Less

I've had a few revelations since January. With the unknown nerve problems going on with my right arm worsening, I realized that as much as I wanted to swim, it was ultimately damaging me. In the beginning of that month I went to my neurologist, got some MRIs, and was told to take a month of rehab meaning swimming 2x a week for 30 minutes and then going to an exercise physical therapist. If my arm function did not improve within a month then my neurologist was going to say that my body was going through a progression. I knew it wasn't a progression because I was having so much pain and the lack of function in my tricep dramatically declined within 2-3 weeks. I was happy though that I was allowed to swim and to finally get back into the water, but more hopeful that my arm would improve.

Over this time of rehab there were moments of feeling really good, then being anxious of not knowing what to do with myself. I couldn't do much in the beginning, if not anything at all with my right arm and had to chill out and watch movies if my arm was in pain; I couldn't even hold a book to read or study for my classes, that's what drove me crazy. My physical therapy started to improve in early February and I started to become more positive about myself and where my body was at. I realized that I had the ability to be calm and in the moment with my free time instead of how I use to be when training; running from place to place and mentally stressing over things in the future. In addition, I realized that the way I think is directly related to how my body feels. For instance, I know I'm feeling really good if I'm thinking positively without trying whereas if my body's tired and needs rest I mentally will be harder on myself. I later told this to my trainer and she thought it was great that I learned this at an early age.

In mid February I was starting to feel really good in the water and was given the okay to swim 3x a week for 45 minutes. During that time I had some long conversations with my coaches and trainer about the way my body with Muscular Dystrophy responds to training. This came about since I was improving more by swimming and training less while giving my body more rest. We realized that once my arm gets better, the most I'll ever train is 4x a week for 1:30 instead of 5-6x for 2 hours because I'll be able to recover and ultimately become a faster swimmer. By doing this, I've been able to accomplish more by doing less and I've also taken on this mantra onto other things outside of swimming, such as how I motivate myself and what I'm setting as goals. I've realized that if I can do a simple thing, whatever it is, great then I will be able to do more with more energy and a positive attitude instead of stressing myself out and worrying about what I can and can't control.

I ultimately feel like this was the major lesson I had to learn while going through this time of injury and honestly I'm very grateful for it. I'm a happier person now and realized that the best way I can accomplish something is to have a healthy balance in all aspects of my life, not just doing a swim workout and making sure that I'm in my best physical shape. There's always something good out of a challenging situation and I'm glad that life can throw me these bumbs in the road so I can become a stronger person.

Oh! And this past week I went to the neurologist since it's been a month of rehab and my arm's stronger! I still have a way to go, but I've been getting some of my old times! I've been feeling really good in the water and decided to go to my next national meet in April so I've very excited and hopeful to say the least!

Happy New Year!

These past few months have been so busy and I finally have time to sit and write. Much has happened since I've gotten home from Greece so here's an update...

 

In July, I spent many mornings swimming from 6 to 8:30 and then going to another evening practice with a master's team I joined over the summer. Other than that, July was pretty relaxing compared to what happened next.

 

August was when things started to change for me. I went to San Diego to train with a Paralympic Coach and his team for a week. Boy did I get a work out! Practices were at least 3 hours. I was so exhausted but it was a really good experience for me. I spent most of my time outside of the pool with my mom and shopping :).  That week in San Diego I decided to transfer to another school. I ultimately knew that Wheaton was not the right "fit" for me, especially with my swimming goals. This decision was made 3 weeks before the semester was going to start, so I knew I had a lot of work to do when I returned home. Also during that week I was informed that I was nominated for the national USA Swimming's Adapted Swimmer of the Year Award! In addition I had a chance to catch up with my mentor Ryan and his wife Nicole, and also my friend Scout. They all helped me with suggestions about transferring since it was a hard decision for me, but ultimately the right choice. When I returned home, I decided to transfer to Trinity College and crossed my fingers that I'd get in before the fall semester started. Well...I got in! I registered for classes and all of my credits transferred also. After that situation, in swim practice I was getting slower in the water. My coaches, family, and I just thought it was due to stress and transferring schools, but we soon found out that it was more than stress.

 

September was a time for adjustment for me. Transferring to Trinity was certainly the right choice for me. Although I didn't have many options for classes that semester since most of the were already filled, I made the best with what I had. I registered for Sociology, Political Philosophy, Biology, and Spanish. My classes were much harder, but I managed. My hardest class was Biology since the material was so detailed and complicated. I studied for hours and even had my cousin help quiz me, but still did not get the best grades. The professor was really understanding though and was available many times for extra help and study sessions. Also in September, I joined a club team for swimming and absolutely love it! I joined CCAT (Central Connecticut Aquatic Team) and love my coaches and teammates. In addition, I found that my right shoulder was the main cause of my problem for swimming. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but I was starting to get a tingling sensation down to my fingers and having my entire arm go limp during practices.

 

October was such a fun month! My family and I went to the San Diego Triathlon sponsored by the Challenged Athletes Foundation. I had an amazing time! I can't put into words how amazing that weekend was, but it is always such a positive experience! I had a chance to catch up with some of my challenged athlete friends who live across the country and in other parts of the world; it's one time when we're all together and can have fun! My family and I also met Bill Walton which was great since we're Celtics fans. The triathlon was a Half Ironman distance and I signed up only for the swim portion, 1.2 miles. I wasn't exactly sure if I could even swim the whole distance since I'm a sprinter and also with the problems I've been having with my arm. Well, I was certainly nervous, but had my swim buddies, Felicia and Tony, with me the whole time. The water was about 64 degrees and I was actually warm the whole time since I had my wetsuit on. I did get really frustrated when we reached the 2nd buoy because I thought we were half way and then Felicia said we were a 4th of the way done. The waves were pretty rough at the half way point and then swimming back towards the shore, but I did it! I swam the 1.2 mile distance (which I've never done before) in an 1:37 minutes! I was so happy with myself especially since I really thought I wasn't going to be able to finish. And the most amazing part was Ryan helped carry me up the Cove's stairs. It was an amazing moment and unfortunately since I was so disoriented I didn't know what was going on. I actually have a picture of me and Ryan and it means so much to me; you'll never be alone, mentor and mentee, helping one another, and I'm sure there's more. The rest of the day my family, Felicia, Ryan and Nicole, and I spent time talking and having fun at the fair CAF put on. I absolutely love the CAF for everything they do to help challenged athletes help achieve their sporting goals and also showing that you can have an amazing life even with a disability. That weekend was so much!

 

 

November was relaxing. I had a swim meet the 1st weekend after the triathlon and dropped 10 seconds in my freestyle! Also in that month I was awarded by Connecticut Swimming Adapted Swimmer of the Year Award. I said a few words when receiving the award and dedicated it to my parents since they instilled in my sister and I at a young age that you can do whatever you set your mind too. I absolutely know that I would not be where I am today without their support and positive reinforcement.

 

And now to December. Well school ended December 16th and I was so happy to be done with finals! Trinity is definitely a harder school than I had imagined, but I certainly learned more about myself and how I study for exams. I ended on a good note with a 3.2 GPA which I'm really happy about. Swimming's been on a hold for a bit due to the right shoulder and arm. I've been seeing a chiropractor and physical therapist and have been seeing positive results. My chiropractor thinks my shoulder is a result of maybe muscle weakness and nerve damage or pinshing.  It'll be a slow process to fix, but I'm hopeful that in 2011 I'll be better than ever! Since I'm on break now, Ive been seeing friends home from school, taking it easy, and spending time with family. For New Year's Eve, I'm planning on spending time with my friends and ring in the New Year with those I love!

 

Speaking of 2011, my next national meet is in April in Minnesota. U.S. Paralympics will be picking 2 international teams; 1 to Guadalajara, Mexico and Edmonton, Canada. I'll also be getting reclassified due to the problems with my shoulder so we'll see if anything results from that. I'm really excited about seeing my teammates from Greece and Colombia and catching up with them! It'll be a fun experience swimming fast and also seeing my swimmer friends!

 

I'm excited to see what 2011 has in store for me, but until then Happy New Year!!