This shift in thinking that Cullen mentions? It’s essential in reaching your goals, in or out of the pool. We could learn a lot from this Olympian.

When my daughter first started competitive swimming, she couldn’t dive. That limited her to competing in backstroke. That was a shame, because she was a much stronger freestyle swimmer. But that dive was a true limitation. She was scared to death to try, and she acted like a wet cat when forced to.

Then my husband took her to the pool on a Saturday with her little brother to work on their starts. Her little brother, 7 at the time, had no problem diving. He could dive from the board or the side of the pool fearlessly. Our daughter took a different approach. My husband, a non-swimmer, didn’t even get in the pool, but was able to coach her to success. He asked some of the lifeguards the fundamentals of diving, and then he convinced our daughter that she could do it. Pretty soon, she was diving, and she was more consistent than her brother.

Her starts were put to the test at the next swim meet. She dove in like she’d been doing it forever, getting a good start on her races. She even competed in a freestyle relay where they won first place! She earned her first medal, all because she learned the art of the start.

Years later, I thought I’d try. I had my own fear of diving, but having watched my daughter overcome hers gave me the courage to face mine. So I climbed up to the diving board at a friend’s pool and assumed the starting position. SMACK! The water slapped me right between the eyes and on that lovely part of my face that my brother refers to as my 8-head.

My daughter corrected my dive. She told me to use my streamline and lead with my hands as I dove, not my forehead. That meant I had to look down, rather than out, and tuck my chin down, and completely cover my ears with my arms. I put one hand over the other, and shaped my body like a torpedo.

This time my dive was perfect, but a bit too deep. When I tried to do a good racing start, a shallow far dive, I would smack my forehead again.

This stuff is harder than it looks. I went to the pool where my daughter leaned to dive. Normal people could use the blocks if they wanted to. I almost hyperventilated, I was so excited to actually get on a block. SMACK! I hit my forehead again. The lifeguard tried to console me with the idea that I would probably not need to know how to do that; I wouldn’t actually be racing, would I? That didn’t console me. It just made me want to practice my start more.

There’s still room to grow. That’s one of the thrills of the sport; you could always refine your technique.

I use the product name for clarity, but in actuality, we don’t have saran wrap in the house. We have food service film, or some such thing–a gigantic box of plastic wrap we bought at Sam’s Club. It’s a good thing we have so much plastic wrap, or I might have cringed at the idea of my daughter wrapping her head in plastic wrap before putting on a latex swim cap.

You see, I made the poor planning mistake of getting my daughter a hair appointment the day before she went to work at the pool. She had been wanting to try the saran wrap solution we discovered from the Hampton University Aquatics Director. Now the stakes were just a little higher, is all.

It worked, for the most part. Her hair maybe got a little wet, and I am not sure whether that was from sweating or actual pool water. But she was far from drenched, and even managed to keep most of her hairstyle. Score! I can’t wait to try it myself.

I used to like Aquaman when I watched the Superfriends. I liked the little aqua radar he used to talk to the animals. And the fact that he lived in the water. That seemed so cool. Now it blows me away the environmental stuff they were sneaking in through the swim hero. Those sonar bubbles are still cool though, especially the sound effects.

Here’s a video of the Olympic rower talking about how he got into the sport, what it was like to be in the Olympics, and diversity. The video quality is low, but Banks is an interesting speaker.

I’m still getting over rowing being swimming. Let’s just call it aquatic, like boating. Come to think of it, I didn’t get all hung up about boating and swimming, so I’ll just drop it, ok?

Anyway, I briefly mentioned David Banks in an earlier post. As it turns out, Banks is dedicated to growing his sport by encouraging black folks to try rowing.

Banks and his partner Charlie Cole finished fifth in the 2009 World Championships in Poland. He talks about his sport: “I think our sport builds character and discipline and good qualitites in young people.”

The two-time Olympian is pleased with the distinction of Male Athlete of the year, but would prefer more medals. Here’s hoping 2012 will be his year.

I would think that rowing would be a sport where price could get prohibitive. Maybe you don’t buy your own equipment? Any opinions/facts about rowing?