“Sports has always been a great fallback. I know that every day can’t be the best, but you must ‘get back on the horse’ after those days.”
– Crissy Perham, Three Time Olympic Gold Medal Winner
Being an athlete requires a higher level of discipline and focus. For swimmer Crissy Perham, a demanding lifestyle of rigorous training and strict regiment began at an early age. She made a lot of sacrifices, and her training allowed her to achieve her dream of becoming a gold-medal-winning Olympian. But the rewards of her efforts went much beyond the Olympic glory.
A Lifetime of Athletics
“I have been an athlete my whole life,” Crissy shares. She witnessed at an early age how she could excel in a sport through her family. “My parents were college athletes, I was a college athlete, and my brother was an athlete,” she says. As an eight-year-old, she declared that she wanted to be an Olympian. That, however, was just the beginning of a challenging-but-inspiring journey.
“I was the only swimmer in my small town in Iowa and only member of my high school swim team.” This resulted in her not getting exposed to much competition and therefore limiting her competitive swimming skills. This was her first hurdle: not letting her circumstances limit her capabilities.
The challenges became even more difficult as she grew older. “Even though I went to college on a swimming scholarship, I had a hard time staying focused,” she reveals. She also resisted a myriad of temptations to focus on becoming an Olympian. While her friends and classmates were off to parties and dances, she had to sacrifice these pleasures to become an ace athlete. Imagine when everyone around is partying and enjoying life happily, and you are practicing away from all the fun and frolic. All this, not for a month or two but your entire childhood and teenage years.
“If I didn’t have such amazing coaches and a wonderful support team around me, I would not have learned to persevere and do my very best,” she adds. Crissy also emphasizes on identifying one’s limits and seek the necessary help.
Olympics and Beyond
Come 1992 and Crissy set the Olympic pool on fire. A disciplined life dotted with sacrifices led to three gold medals and a world record. But the benefits of sticking to the focus and discipline continued even in her career after sports. Being an athlete has helped Crissy at the workplace. She applied relevant skills such as goal setting, teamwork, being receptive, and appreciating everyone’s success to her workplace as well.
Sports continues to positively impact and enrich other aspects of her life.
