Inner City Swimmer

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Thank you so much for following the blog. I apologize for the lack of updates recently. I've had a lot of great changes happen in my personal life and will be back to the blog in January 2017 guaranteed! Thank you to each and everyone of you that have taken the time to read the blog. It meant so much to me this year. 2016 was one of the toughest years of my life and knowing that you were reading and looking forward to every post kept me going at some of the lowest points. So thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you for encouraging me and lifting me up. Thank you for being there and letting me know that my story was of interest. All the best to everyone and lets make 2017 a KICK ASS YEAR YO!  NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE IN!

The year was 1988 and I was starting my sophomore year at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, NY. I had a choice of going to 1 of 4 high schools in the city. Because of desegregation there were specialized programs at each high school to encourage kids to travel from their neighborhoods. Roosevelt had a commercial art program which had received a great deal of funding. They had acquired new Apple "Mac" computers and the latest desktop publishing software. This would be my new school. I called a friend that I went to Hawthorne with before the start of the school year because we had both chosen Roosevelt. She had announced to me that we wouldn't be hanging out anymore because I wasn't cool enough. I wore long jean skirts and that just wasn't "in-style". She told me her goal was to be popular and I would be holding her back. This statement became very amusing to me by the end of my Junior year, so keep it in the back of your mind. My mom had mentioned tha...

When a 13 year old starts swimming on a team in a lane with 5 year olds,  it's more than evident to them that they are starting at the very bottom. There is no escaping it, you know you are slow. Everyone my age was swimming much faster, several lanes over. This was overwhelming to me at first, because when you haven't been a competitive swimmer, you immediately see how hard it is to swim fast. It takes a tremendous amount of work. You will find yourself pushing through a lot of sensations that are not always pleasant. For months I felt like I was drowning. I remember grumbling to my father that Silver Streaks practice was really tough and he said, "Yeah, that's what boot camp was like for me, You'll get though it.".  As we would swim certain freestyle sets, there was a whistle blown randomly at any point. Mr. Silverman would point at you and say, "You! What are you doing there? You should be up here! Swim faster". He was very animated ...

Theodore D. Young Community Center in Greenburgh NY The year was 1987 and desegregation had hit Yonkers public schools. Without desegregation, I  never would have known the racism that existed in Yonkers. In my own neighborhood I learned that a fence and land barrier was created to keep "black traffic" from Runyon Heights out of Homefield.  Through the years I attended grammar school 1979-1986 the racial mix that was the norm for a classroom in North Yonkers would be 1 black child, maybe 2 at most. In 1987 classes ceased to be all white. Because of desegregation I was bused to South Yonkers. I was in the "High and Wide" track that became known as Pearls. It was in an accelerated program for the "gifted".  My family thought it was wise to stay in this program because there were rumors that Emerson would become "rough". Because of this I went to Hawthorne for 8th grade and my Freshman year of High School. Nicole Ryan was one of the clas...

A summer in the 80's at Crystal Pond in Eastford, CT I've always felt at total peace in the water. It creates a contagious state joy inside of me and as a child I really wished I could stay in the pool forever. As a teenager it always made me feel better and continues to do the same thing today as an adult. When the water hits my skin, that simple sensation, it washes away all the stress and the bad mojo that a day could possibly bring. My life truly needs to be connected to it, to be complete. On March 24, 1974, I was introduced to my first pool by taking a tiny tots class with my mom. I'm not totally sure where it was, but it was in Yonkers. It could have been one of the Y's or Linden Street Pool (also know as Bath House No. 4) which has since been destroyed. I spent a good portion of my childhood swimming. My mom would put me in summer swim lessons at Sprain Ridge Pool in Yonkers and in the fall I would swim at Ardsley Middle School (see video). My s...

The year was 1991 and I had made sectionals. I was really excited. All I needed to do was break a low 28 for the 50 free and I would be going to States. For the first time I would be exclusively racing against women. I have vague memories of that day but I'll never forget the feeling. Missing States by tenths of a second... and just like that my competitive swimming journey ended or so I had thought at the time. This loss was especially significant because I knew that I didn't have the right conditions to make states possible. I still tried but it just wasn't realistic. I didn't have the training background of most swimmers. At the time I was swimming for Roosevelt High School in Yonkers. We were lucky if we got into a pool that was 20 yards 3 times a week... 2 times a week was common. Mark Twain Junior High School had gotten a new pool in 1992, the year after I graduated.  It was bitter sweet watching my sister compete at All City Championships there the fo...