Athletebiosyd

sional time. In her 100 breaststroke she is only INSIDE THE ATHLETE
three seconds away and if she accomplished this Sydney Foster
time this winter, she would be ahead of where she Sydney Foster started out as just an ordinary kid was as a nine year old trying to accomplish the with ordinary dreams and an ordinary life. She same standard. Since there are no 50s in the 13- wasn’t an automatic super-star, she didn’t have 14 age group, Sydney must go double of her long- the glamour and glitz to her smile as she has to- est race in the 200 breaststroke to capture her day. She was just your ordinary, beginning swim- next divisional time. She swam the race in Decem- mer. She needed help writing the events on her ber with a 3:28 and with only seventeen seconds hand, figuring out which pool she was swimming to drop in a 200, it doesn’t seem like such a diffi- in, and making sure to match the correct kick with cult task compared to the drops Sydney has done the correct stroke. Life was simple, swimming was in her past. Everyone is sure of her capabilities simple, and there wasn’t anything too special and the excitement builds every time she swims about swim practice, it was just, ordinary. but no one could be calmer than Sydney about the Now we step into Sydney’s world as of today. A possibility to swim at the divisional level at the age thirteen year old girl with hopes of aspiring to of thirteen. For Sydney, she has learned that it’s something greater than herself and with a little help from her teammates. In her second season as a 13-year old, Sydney pushes to catch up where she left off in her 12-year old career. A divi- Q: What is the most difficult part of swimming? Q: Who is one of your athletic role models? Shawn Johnson because she is so great to watch and Michael Phelps. My dad got mad at me for taking all the Gymnastics I got DQ’ed for doing the wrong The sound of sizzling bacon! If you were a Disney character What are the things that you absolutely have to have in My cooler must have bacon, fried chicken, a napkin, a bottle of water, honey buns, and a granola bar. In order to understand where Sydney is headed in her So now we have the journey, and the stage is set for swimming career its vital that we understand what has her very first divisional championship meet in Carmel, happened in her past. Some of us know the accom- Indianapolis. On her first day, Sydney dropped a sec- plishment of her first divisional meet but don’t really ond in her 100 breast which she said, was one of the know the journey she made. Last winter she started out hardest drops she had ever had to do. Now it was time as a normal swimmer who went a 1:39 in her 100 for her favorite race in the world. The 50 breaststroke. breast and a :45 in her 50 breast at the beginning of the With a :42 time and only have swimming that time once, season. It was a huge drop from her last winter’s finish the opportunity for Sydney to do the unexpected was but just how much more could she drop? She had al- set. Again finding herself in the middle of the pool she ready practiced an entire summer with the Silver Team went through all the steps to a perfect race and again for the first time and lots of improvements were made. found herself two body-lengths in front of the entire These times were a symbol of how hard she worked heat. It was a repeat of her last meet and this was a mers would swim best times, Sydney dropped the two Sydney Foster would tell you that going to practice eve- seconds she needed in her 100 breast. Mission one, ryday, having your own personal dreams, and believing in yourself were the most important details to her blue- Now it was time to focus on the 50, which if you knew, dropping two seconds in a fifty is easier said than done. Sydney has come a long way from where she started. After Sydney tore off the blocks for her final chance at a In Sydney’s race though life, this has been a true testa- divisional victory, she popped out of the water as if her ment of the kind of person she can be. She has passed life depended on her final outcome. Watching Sydney the test of overcoming the impossible, and rising to oc- take the lead after only a few strokes in her first lap was casion. She couldn’t have done it alone, and with such reassuring but still left your stomach in knots. Whether it a supporting family along with her adoring teammates, was excitement or anxiety, it was a roller-coaster of a why would she want to go it alone. Last winter season race. After a two-handed touch, a glimpse of the timing Sydney was only one of four swimmers that went to the board, and a quick hand-pump to acknowledge her own Kentucky swim meet. Surrounded by Kentucky swim- accomplishment, Sydney Foster’s seal on her divisional mers and unfamiliar faces she had one of her lifetime journey will be one that is told to Silver Squads years best swims in the 50 fly. I believe Sydney loves the im- possible challenge. She secretly enjoys the pressure of

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