Evelyn Young has been named OSSC Athlete of the Month by the OSSC Coaches in recognition of her achievements competing successfully at the Provincial 12U and National AG 13-15 level. Subsequently, Evelyn qualified for the Provincial 12U Team and qualified in the Solo category for the National 11-12 Espoir Pilot This award recognizes not just Evelyn’s success but all the hard work, dedication and that she puts in in the pool
Q: Evelyn, you are now in your fifth year of synchronized swimming. Even though you are 12U, you are swimming up to 13-15 FINA this season. In addition to the new requirements for 13-15 FINA, you are also continuing to develop your 12U skill sets! At the recent Central/North Regionals meet, you won gold in 12U figures and gold in solo and silver in duet. What do you feel has had the biggest impact on helping you achieve your recent success at Central/North Regionals?
A: I always love to improve and whenever I get something correct that I’ve been working on I move on to something else right away. This helps me because there is no time in between to not improve I just keep on going. Then when I’m at a meet I only have to remember a few corrections, which helps me focus. Also at competitions I bring little notes with corrections on them to read before each figure and routine.
Q: What do you see as your biggest challenge?
A: My biggest challenge has been my flexibility and extension. I work on it almost everyday to make it better. This is my biggest challenge because I am not naturally flexible which means it’s hard for me to become flexible and even harder to stay flexible.
Q: How do you overcome challenges?
A: I overcome challenges by spending time every day trying to work on them to make them better.
Q: Focus is a critical skill for all athletes. When you arrive at the pool at 7 am every day looking forward to a long practice before a busy day at school, how do you stay focused?
A: It’s not possible to be completely focused for four hours practice and school, but I stay in a good zone of focus by thinking about what I am doing right there and then and not the next thing.
Q: In addition to your training schedule, you also are also in the TDSB’s High Performer Program at Hollycrest JMS. How are you able to stay on top of your school and homework?
A: I keep on top of my homework because without practice in the evening I can have 1-2 hours to do my homework if I need it, which allows me to complete everything for the next day.
Q: Do you have any tips or tricks to share with your fellow athletes?
A: If you have something you really need to improve work on it whenever you can. Also don’t stop stretching over summer break or you will realize you are nowhere near what you could do the year before.
Q: What do you see as necessary to you to achieve your goals at the upcoming Espoir 11-12 Competition?
A: To keep working on my flexibility and extension and remember my corrections for figures and routine.
Q: What are your goals for the balance of the year?
Some of my goals are: to keep working on flexibility and extension, to improve my figures for nationals and 12U figures for nationals and Trilliums. And to have a good sharp team swim at nationals with a high highlight.
We are absolutely delighted to announce we have finalized a consistent and accessible pool for our High Performance Program for 2013/14 while the Olympium is renovated for the Pan AM games.