Greatest Sporting Achievements

Biondi won a total of eleven Olympic medals, eight were gold. He also competed for the World Championships winning eleven medals, six were gold medals, and a record has since been matched by Michael Phelps. Matt Biondi’s won eighteen Pan Pacific medals and five Summer Universiade. He is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Why Was He So Good?

Nicknamed as “The California Condor”, Matt Biondi is known to be the man who won big and got out while he was still on top. He was trying to become the best but many people realized that he was the best, especially in the 1992 Olympics. Biondi was the fastest and he knew enough to take his time when it mattered. A physique junkie, he balanced life with an exhausting training regime that was paramount to his persistent accomplishment. He stayed humble and goodhearted even after his success.

What You May Not Know

• It was during Biondi was in senior year in high school that his sprinting ability was noticed. He was widely accepted as the fastest schoolboy swimmer in America. It was also due to him being a water polo player that he got noticed by colleges.
• In college, he worked four hours a day swimming and a couple more hours for weight training but finished with a 3.0 GPA
• He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies.
• Matt Biondi became a school teacher and swimming coach in Hawaii since he was a passionate mentor.

Credit: www.topendsports.com

Born in Maryland in 1997, Katie Ledecky began swimming competitively at age 6. After earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic team at age 15, she set an American record in the 800-meter frestyle to win a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games. Ledecky has since remained unbeaten in all major international competition, shattering world records across an array of freestyle events ranging from 400 to 1,500 meters. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, she dominated the pool, winning gold medals in the 400-meter freestyle in world record time, the 200-meter freestyle and the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, and silver in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay. She also broke the world record, winning gold in the 800-meter freestyle.

Early Years and Competitive Career

Kathleen Genevieve “Katie” Ledecky was born on March 17, 1997, in Bethesda, Maryland. The second child of David, a lawyer, and Mary Gen, a former collegiate swimmer and hospital administrator, she began swimming competitively at the Palisades Swim & Tennis Club at age 6, alongside her older brother, Michael.

With her seemingly insatiable appetite for pool activity, Ledecky became a standout at the Nation’s Capital Swim Club under coach Yuri Suguiyama. In 2011, Suguiyama began instructing Ledecky to kick more aggressively while racing, a technique commonly used by elite men’s swimmers but rarely seen on the women’s side. That summer, before the start of her freshman year at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, she dominated the U.S. Junior Championships with wins in the 400-, 800- and 1,500- meter freestyle events.

2012 Olympic Breakout

Katie Ledecky made her senior debut at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, entering the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyles. The lack of top-level experience proved no obstacle for the 15-year-old, who surged to an eye-opening win in the 800m to become the youngest member of the U.S. team.

Her momentum continued through the competition at the 2012 London Games, where Ledecky paced her heat in the 800m. She then blew the competition out of the water in the final, breaking Janet Evans’s 23-year-old American record with a time of 8:14.63 to win the gold medal.

Afterward, Ledecky displayed the easy confidence of someone who expected to win. “I knew if I put my mind to it, I could do it,” she said. “I wasn’t intimidated at all.”

World’s Greatest Swimmer

Under the guidance of new coach Bruce Gemmell, Katie Ledecky showed that her 2012 Olympic performance was merely the tip of the iceberg. Proving capable of winning both middle- and long-distance events, she established world records in the 800- and 1,500-meter freestyles en route to four gold medals at the 2013 FINA World Championships. She claimed another four golds at the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, and at the 2015 FINA World Championships, she became the first woman to win the 200- 400- 800- and 1500-meter freestyles in a major competition. Her victories often coming via huge margins, Ledecky has been honored as the FINA Swimmer of the Year, the USOC’s Olympic SportsWoman of the Year and a three-time Golden Goggle Female Athlete of the Year.

The champion swimmer was accepted to Stanford University prior to her graduation from Stone Ridge in 2015, but she elected to defer enrollment to focus on training for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Proving to be in peak form well before the start of Olympic competition, she set her 11th world record with a time of 8:06.68 in the 800m free at the Arena Pro Swim Series in January 2016.

Additionally, Ledecky headed into the summer as the world-record holder in the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyles. Unbeaten in all major international competition, she was expected to add to her already impressive gold medal count and become one of the American team’s most celebrated Olympians by the close of the 2016 Rio Games.

Rio Olympic Games

Ledecky did not disappoint in Rio. In her first individual event, the women’s 400-meter freestyle, she won gold, soaring past the competition early on and finishing with a time that was two seconds better than her own world record and four seconds more than her second place finisher. She also helped her teammates win silver in the Women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay. She went on to win gold again in the 200-meter freestyle race, edging out Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom, who won silver. After the grueling race, Ledecky spoke about finding the strength to grab the gold. “I did come pretty close to throwing up during that last 50,” Ledecky said. “I knew I just needed to get my hand on the wall and be done. Everything was hurting . . .I just had to dig deep and do my own thing. I had no idea whether I touched first . . .I was done when I touched the wall. I knew I’d given it everything I had to.

She continued to dominate as the anchor in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, winning the gold medal with teammates Allison Schmitt, Leah Smith and Maya Dirado. She also defended her 2012 world title in the 800-meter individual freestyle in a stunning victory, finishing the race at 8:04:79 and smashing the world record. With this gold win, Ledecky became the second woman to win three individual freestyle events at a single Olympic Games.

*Originally published at https://www.biography.com/

Kibera B  Vs. Emerald B

Kibera A Vs. Nairobi Academy

Nairobi Academy Vs. Jabali

Kiota School Vs. Emerald C

Soccer Africa Vs. Kibera

Parents’ Session

Third Place; Montessori Learning Centre

Second Place : Kiota School

First Place : Kibera

The 5 foot Californian stormed on the scene as a 14 year old, and by the time she was 15 she’d already broken the world records in the 400, 800 and 1500m freestyle. The following year she would throw down her performance in Seoul, cementing herself as the headliner in women’s distance freestyle.

10 Interesting facts about Janet Evans

1. In preparation for the 1992 Barcelona Games, Janet Evans left the Stanford swim team – simultaneously renouncing her scholarship — when the NCAA imposed weekly training limits on athletes. Evans, who was routinely training upwards of 30+ hours per week, felt that the new rules would limit her training. The rules were put in place in order to give students more time for hitting the books, limiting to in-season practice hours to 20, with a maximum of 4 hours per day, and one mandatory day off per week.
2. In 1989 she won the James E. Sullivan Award, which recognizes the top amateur athlete in the United States. She was also given the honor of being Swimming World Magazine’s Swimmer of the Year (International Female) for the years 1987, 1989, and 1990 (although inexplicably, not 1988 after her unreal performances in Seoul).
3. As far as swimming nicknames go, hers was a little longer than most, and somewhat clunky sounding, yet otherwise utterly befitting of the time period in which it was created: “Miss Perpetual Motion.”
4. Her 400m freestyle world recordstood for 18 years. It wasn’t until Laure Manaudou was able to break it in 2006. Similarly, her 800 freestyle record stood for nearly 20 years. The standard of 8:16.22 was not broken until Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington eclipsed it in winning the race in Beijing in 2008. The only women’s record that has lasted longer was Willy den Ouden, a Dutch 100m freestyler whose mark last from 1936-1956.
5. Evans was the first woman to defend an Olympic and World Championship title in one event.
6. She went a period of over five years where she went undefeated in the 400, 800, and 1500m freestyle. The streak was broken when Germany’s Dagmar Hase out-touched her in the 400 free at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
7. Evans was given the honor of carried the Olympic torch during the Olympic ceremonies in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. She handed the torch to boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
8. She won the 400m and 800m freestyle more times at Nationals (or US Open as it is called now) than any other swimmer in the history of the competition. Her final tally? She won both events 12 times each.
9. At the age of 40 Evans made a comeback attempt at the 2012 Olympic Trials after 15 years out of the water. Flying in the face of conventional wisdom when doing so – most comebacks involve a return to shorter, more power-oriented events – Evans stuck to her bread and butter, the 800m freestyle.

Here is an interview of her and coach Mark Schubert in the lead-up to Olympic Trials–

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGOlGT1wv4A[/youtube]

10. At the 2012 Olympic Trials Evans received a long, thunderous standing ovation when she stood up on the blocks before her race. Despite the love from the crowd, she placed 80^thin the 400m freestyle and 53^rdin the 800m freestyle.

Author: Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Credit: yourswimlog.com

Image: Reuters

Greatest Sporting Achievements

Phelps is ranked as the most decorated Olympian in history. Phelps has 18 Olympic gold medals, 26 World Championships (LC) gold medals, 1 World Championships (SC) gold medal and 16 Pan Pacific Championships gold medals.  He set the record for most medals of any Olympic athlete in history. Michael Phelps became World Swimmer of the Year seven times, FINA Swimmer of the Year in 2012 and American Swimmer of the Year nine times.

Why is He So Good?

Michael Phelps’ advantages are his height, weight and the length of both his arms and legs. His long torso and short legs lessen his drag and allow for utmost forward motion. His wingspan is 208cm providing great levers for him to pull himself all the way through the water. His large hands and size 14 feet is what all he needs to swim really fast. Also, Phelps has astonishing powers of recovery. Just like any other notable and successful athlete, Michael Phelps is a man who doesn’t know how to quit.

What You May Not Know

• He stands 6’4” and has reportedly has size 14 feet. He weighs 200 pounds.
• Phelps’ first stroke that he mastered was backstroke.
• in 2001 Phelps broke the world record in the 200 m butterfly to become the youngest man ever to set a swimming world record (15 years and 9 months).
• He and his sisters Whitney and Hilary started swimming when they joined a local swim team.
  When Michael Phelps was 7, he was still “a little scared” to put his head under water so his instructors allowed him to float around on his back.
• He wrote two books “Beneath the Surface; My Story” in 2008 and “No Limits: The Will to Succeed” in 2009.

Source; www.topendsports.com

Greatest Sporting Achievements

Ian Thorpe won five Olympic gold medals, three silver and one bronze. During the 2001 World Aquatics Championships, Thorpe became the first person to win six gold medals in one World Championship. He is the third-highest swimmer in terms of most gold medals won with eleven gold World Championships. From 1999 to 2003, he was recognized as the Australian Swimmer of the Year and was the first ever swimmer to have been named Swimming World Summer of the Year four times. Thorpe was also recognized as the Young Australian Athlete in 2000 and his athletic achievements made him one of the country’s most popular athletes.

Why Is He So Good?

Thorpe’s performance was labeled “extraordinary” and “superior” by Swimming World but Australian former head coach Don Talbot said that Thorpe depended on his kick profoundly, sacrificing his arms. Thorpe was acknowledged for his six-beat jolt to power away from his opponents in the finishing stages of championships, the success of which was credited to his size 17 feet.

What You May Not Know

• Ian Thorpe was initially allergic to chlorine but overcame it to compete hard and win international honors in swimming when he was only 14 years old.
• He held 22 world records in swimming.
• Ian Thorpe is a fluent French speaker.
• He was only 15 when he became the youngest gold medalist in World Championships history, winning the 400m freestyle race in 1998.
• In 2004, he created his own signature underwear line named “it”.
• Thorpe is an ambassador of Armani clothing and has his own line of jewelry.

 This article first appeared on www.topendsports.com

IMAGE: PETER H. BICK

More importantly though, engaging in a physical activity or sport that you enjoy also brings a wealth of psychological benefits that will improve your outlook on life and give you an edge when it comes to achieving your life’s goals. Why do I say this? Simply because my life experience has proven it to be true beyond a doubt. As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a swimmer. And I achieved that goal, won two Olympic medals, set a few world records, and learned a lot along the way.

But the important thing for me, and what I want to share with you, is that winning gold and silver medals, while clearly high points in my life, turned out not to be the most important benefit of being a swimmer. Swimming prepared me to succeed in life.

So, what exactly did I learn and how did swimming prepare me psychologically for success?

1) Less Focus on Self and More Focus on a Greater Good

I learned that people tend to admire Olympians more than professional athletes because we are not competing for money or fame but rather for a higher ideal – patriotism. I remember getting on the starting block and thinking “people are counting on me to win for the U.S.” It taught me to look beyond myself to something greater than me – my country! So, find a higher purpose for the activities you engage in. If you like dancing, perhaps your motivation should be “I want to dance at my daughter’s wedding.” Dancing for her may motivate you to become a better dancer than simply just dancing for yourself. Try it and see the difference it makes.

2) Losing Is Your Opportunity To Get Better

Competition success may include thousands of hours of losing! But I learned, and had to remember, that losing was not a reflection on me – it didn’t mean that I was a loser – it just meant that I needed to persevere, identify my weaknesses, fix them and work harder next time. And I did!

3) Fitness Is An Inside Job

Our physical shape as swimmers is usually one of the first things people notice and comment on. It appears that the “swimmer´s body” is an ideal that many people have when they start working out. But that fitness is really an inside job. As trite as it may sound, the physical manifestation of swimming is really the result of the inside work I did and continue to do. Feeling and being healthy emotionally and physically has more to do with our mental work than with miles swimming laps. It recently occurred to me that over my entire athletic career I had swum back and forth to China twice. Trust me when I say I didn´t do it to look “fit” – there are easier ways to do that! I was only able to do it because I was “fit” on the inside.

4) Focus on the Process – Not the Outcome

Swimming taught me that I had to trust and focus on the process of training to become a world-class swimmer. This is not only true in swimming but it is also the foundation for any long-term success. Psychologically, I had to believe in and trust the process I was given – practice, nutrition, leisure time, technique, criticism – and follow it even when I had doubts, didn’t feel particularly motivated or wasn’t enjoying it. We must trust the experts, put our egos aside, be a little humble and be open to learning from them. Trusting the process works.

5) Magnify Your Small Wins

Having audacious goals are great. But they don’t do a whole lot to keep you motivated over the long haul. One important thing I learned is to break my accomplishments up into “little wins” knowing that each one pushes me forward to a greater win. Some days getting out of bed and making it to practice was the win. Other days, placing first in a local competition was the win. And on others, winning a regional competition was the small win. And before I go to sleep each night, I write down the positive things I accomplished during the day that I am especially proud of. Try this and you’ll see how much less stressful and how much more enjoyable competing can be.

6) Discipline and Structure Lead To Self Confidence

The first helps you keep your focus on what you’re trying to achieve and the second gives you the roadmap for doing so. While some self-confidence is innate, most of it comes from achieving goals and doing a good job. My dad always told me that nothing is easy and nothing is hard, and that a Gold Medal wasn’t going to be handed to me. But that since someone had to win, I should do all I could to make sure it was me. And two of the key things necessary for that kind of win are self-discipline and structure. It’s a formula that works every time and that gives me more and more self-confidence.

7) “Alone” Is Necessary For Success

Despite being part of a team, swimming is essentially a solitary endeavor. Your only company in the water is the black line down the center of the lane and the always-ticking digital clock on the wall. Countless hours alone practicing and swimming laps gave me plenty of time to be “alone” with myself. This taught me how to clear my mind of extraneous thoughts, how to focus and how to really listen to and get in tune with my body. It also taught me the difference between being alone and being lonely and allowed me to better focus my emotional energy on achieving my goals. Give this a try by taking a walk alone in the woods or swimming some laps or practicing yoga in your living room. You’ll be amazed at how much more in tune with yourself you will become.

8) Sacrifice Pays Off In The Long Term

It was tough to be in the pool when friends were at a party. It was even more difficult to get up at dawn on a snowy morning, jump in a cold pool and swim 800 meters, then head to class until the middle of the afternoon, head back to the pool for another four hours, then head home to study and sleep. But these sacrifices taught me early on to discount that the importance of immediate gratification. The medals were well worth that sacrifice!

9) Keep Your Eye On Your Ultimate Goal While Focusing On Today’s Goals

Yes, I dreamt about winning the Gold Medal every day and every night, but I also dreamt about winning overset in practice or finishing more yards in a day then I had before. Achieving your goals isn’t about just having dreams of your ultimate goals any more than it is about checking off today’s goals from a list of things to do.

10) Tolerate Intensity

Life can be intense and working to achieve your goals, no matter what they are, is going to require a certain level of effort. And this effort will need to be intense at times. How intense? Enough for you to want to just give up and say, “it’s not worth it” and do something else. And everyone has their own threshold for what is “intense.” What swimming taught me is that intensity is just a feeling or a subjective evaluation and that I could use the word “challenge” instead of “intense” and get through it.

Put together, these psychological lessons and benefits lead me to the unshakeable conclusion and belief that I truly can do anything if I work hard and stick to the process. And you can do the same!

AUTHOR: ED MOSES

This article is first published on Consumer Health Digest.