Locked In: The Will to Survive and the Resolve to Live by Victoria Arlen & Valentin Chmerkovskiy

Author:Victoria Arlen & Valentin Chmerkovskiy [Arlen, Victoria & Chmerkovskiy, Valentin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781501174629
Amazon: 1501174622
Publisher: Howard Books
Published: 2018-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

10

SPLASH!

September 2012 to June 2013

“Take your mark . . .”

BEEP!

It’s September 1, 2012, and more than twenty thousand spectators are in the crowd that day in London, with millions more from around the world tuned in. It is my first official day of competition, and I am swimming the 400-meter freestyle. As the current world record holder and the focus of all the classification drama, I am subject to lots of cameras in my face as I make my way to the starting block. The aquatic stadium booms with noise, and I nearly have a heart attack as I enter the pool. Everyone wants to see the “battle of the teenagers.” I am terrified. And as I hit the water, I feel my entire body tremble uncontrollably.

You can do this, Victoria.

One stroke.

Two strokes.

Three strokes.

Breathe.

To keep my nerves at bay, I continue to count my strokes and tune out the audience. I have the lead, but I can tell that Ellie is coming up behind me. I quickly realize I have gone out way too fast due to a massive adrenaline rush. My arms are toast on the final fifty, and I am tapping into my reserve. Ellie is a little person, which means that she has complete use of both her arms and her legs, versus me having only the use of my arms. I never have understood how it is fair for us to compete against each other, but I guess the thought is that her short stature is somewhat similar to my not having use of my lower half.

I can hear the crowd getting louder and louder, and sure enough, Ellie has turned on her legs and is charging my way. I put my head down and continue to swim, but deep down I know that not having my legs to propel me on that last fifty is a major disadvantage.

Though Ellie wins the gold in this race, I am quite all right with my silver medal. I can’t help but think about how just two years prior I was barely holding my head up and my brothers were holding me in the water. I could barely move and now I’m here with a shiny silver medal. And honestly, I’m pretty happy that I didn’t poop my suit out of fear.

Wow.

This crowd, this pool, I’m here.

I made it.

Even with all I’ve been through, I feel like I’m glowing. It just doesn’t get any better than winning a medal. I can feel myself starting to relax and actually enjoy the Games. I realize that this race had been more than a race for me. It was about another mountain I had to climb, and it was about overcoming the fear and anxiety that had been drilled into my head by the IPC drama and classification issues.

Finally, I could just swim.

The next few days are a blur of practicing, racing, and cheering my teammates on. I go on to receive two more silver medals in the 50 freestyle and 4

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