swimmers

"The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became with the idea of a swimming journey. I started to dream ever more exclusively of water. Swimming and dreaming were becoming indistinguishable. I grew convinced that following water, flowing with it, would be a way of getting under the skin of things, of learning something new."

"It is through trees that we see and hear the wind: woodland people can tell the species of a tree from the sound it makes in the wind. If Waterlog was about the element of water, Wildwood is about the element of wood, as it exists in nature, in our souls, in our culture and in our lives. To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed. It is no accident that in the of Shakespeare, people go into the greenwood to grow, learn and change. It is where you travel to find yourself, often, paradoxically, by getting lost. sends the future as a boy into the greenwood to fend for himself in . There, he falls asleep and dreams himself, like a chameleon, into the lives of the animals and the trees."

"From water level, I observed the mating joined in flight like refuelling aircraft, and the random progress of the clocks that drifted on the s over the moat."

"Waterlog (1999), Roger's now-classic account of swimming through Britain, published twenty years ago this year, opens during a rain-storm in the spring-fed moat that lies close to the house. In Wildwood (2007), his epic account of trees, woods and forest cultures around the world, Walnut Tree Farm is the fixed point to which Roger returns and from which he learns,even as he journeys out to the groves of Kazakhstan and the of Australia. And in Notes from Walnut Tree Farm (2008), extracts from Roger's copious journals record both the labour and wonder involved in living in twelve acres of meadow, and woodland; the night-time bark of foxes, the viper-bite of s as he cleared scrub or laid hedges, and the fallen stars of glow-worms in the long grass."

"In 1973, Roger Deakin, a British writer and environmental activist, acquired a tumbledown sixteenth-century farmhouse outside the ancient village of , in , and began a restoration, repairing stone walls and replacing roof tiles. Among the attributes of Walnut Tree Farm, as the house was called, was a deep, spring-fed . It didn’t surround the house, as with a fortified castle, but was excavated into the land, in roughly parallel lines, at the front and the back of the property. The moat had served its original, Elizabethan owner as a water supply, a cooler, and a status symbol. Over the centuries, it fell into disrepair, becoming silted up from falling leaves and rotting tree roots. Deakin had the moat dredged to a depth of ten feet; staked a wooden ladder by the bank, near the spreading roots of a tree; and began regularly swimming in the cold, greenish water. He gained what he called a frog’s-eye view of the changing seasons, and an intimate familiarity with the creatures sharing the moat, from to s."

"It is always lovely to be recognised for what you are doing, but it should never be the sole purpose to do what you are doing. If you are swimming to get recognised, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. You should do it for the love of the sport, the love of being active and the experiences that come with it. If you then get recognised for doing something great it is only a bonus and it doesn’t define you."

"To overcome challenges, it is good to reach out to family and friends and I do believe it means having a great bond between you and your coach to always let them know how you are feeling since all kinds of challenges can affect your training."

"My advice to young athletes, not only girls, is to never give up on your dreams and to be committed and determined to it because it is definitely worth the journey. So if you want to succeed and achieve your goal, you have to work hard and accept that you have to be out of your comfort zone because it is not easy."

"I have this slogan – I wish I could swim with a cap that says Swimming is just what I do; it’s not who I am."

"At the beginning, no one encouraged, supported or even gave attention to any sports other than football. So after I had overcome all these obstacles to show that there are other sports [in which we] can achieve even better than football, now I think it will be easier for others to pursue this path."

"The world has defied success as medals and records where success is different in my mind. And I think that is why I'm very easy to go back and never be hard on myself in terms of that. I just try and find the next thing to improve a little bit more."

"I swim because I love it. I also swim for a bigger purpose which is to use my talents to glorify God through my swimming"

"Sometimes, us as athletes, we always strive for the achievements, for example to get better or reach a certain goal, and that sometimes takes away from the purpose and passion of the sport."

"I can’t believe what I had achieved. I had a difficult two years in which I did not once get close to swimming a personal best time. So, I had been quite discouraged ever so often. All I wanted to do at the Olympics Games was to swim a personal best time. It is what I wanted out of the whole Tokyo experience"

"Swimming is really just a part of and a season in your life, there’s so much more than swimming."

"It’s a big step up. The hard work is only starting now, and I love all the new challenges coming my way and I am learning a lot from each challenge."

"Never give up! Your time will come, and some days will be hard, but the good days will be unforgettable."

"She’s had to compete against and chase swimmers, faster and older than her for her whole career and it’s never fazed her. That’s a major reason why she’s where she is today and why she’s so comfortable punching above her weight",Da Ponte"

"I am a hard worker and passionate young lady that happened to have little talent and would like to pursue my dream of having an Olympic medal for my country. I would like to share my experience with the young athletes back home to give them the hope and will to succeed by pursuing their dream."

"I think greatness in life is to follow your dream, work hard, fight and never give up till you reach your goal. Then pass your experience and success to others in an attempt to give back to your community."

"I would love to be able to show younger women that we as women are so much stronger when we support one another. I believe that swimming should stay in the pool and as soon as the race is over, you celebrate one another no matter the outcome. Women need to stand together."

"Achievements fall away but you want to be remembered for who you are, she said from Paris.I hope that I’m remembered for bringing people joy."

"I hope my story inspires one person, and if that happens I've reached my goal. It's never about trying to inspire millions, it's about inspiring that one person to never disqualify themselves from the race"

"I'm excited to in the future tell my kids I used to swim there (Olympics) once. I am just grateful that I can walk away with medals. It is any athlete's dream."

"The lane space is obviously crowded, so that could get frustrating on its own."

"But it really pushes you to grow as an individual. It helps you find your strengths amid this group because, at the end of the day, you're the one that's going to race the race by yourself."

"For me, the emotions were really because it took a village to get me to where I am. I know they would have been proud even if I didn't have a medal"

"But it was really for them. I swam for everyone that's been there for me and believed with me."

"At the end of the day, a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer, so if we maintain that passion, we will ultimately maintain our purpose. The characteristics that our sport teaches us is also so important – the discipline and the perseverance – they create characteristics within you that last a lifetime, long after your swimming career has ended."

"I am very dedicated and motivated to the things that I love, when I put my mind to something I would do anything in my power to achieve it"

"I was not particularly good at everything, I must say. I tried to be good at everything but swimming finally chose me. When I say that swimming chose me I mean that I started doing better in swimming than in the other sports and started loving my time in the pool with all my friends."

"It is always a great feeling to do well with a lot of your teammates and to have hard work pay off."

"I would give them the advice to never lose the hunger to be better. Every day I wake up wanting to better and to achieve better, but not better than someone else but better than me."

"I train together with Tatjana and teammates are very important to me. Your teammates are the ones who push you when you feel like you cannot carry on. The Tuks swim team environment is constantly evolving and getting better but like they say a rising tide lifts all the boats."

"Make sure that you challenge yourself to be a whole person, work on yourself not just physically but take care of yourself emotionally, spiritually and mentally. It takes a whole person to succeed. Lastly, build a support system around you that will support you through the highs and the lows since swimming is not an individual sport, you might swim alone but it takes a team to get you faster."

"I was actually very calm and just focused on what I had to do and how I had to execute the race, so I think that was a really good thing – learning how to manage the nerves."

"Sometimes there are setbacks, and you just have to sit back and see what needs to be done to ensure you get where you need to be and achieve what you want."

"I really am living my dream at the moment, and am just keeping focused on enjoying the journey and taking it one moment at a time."

"Winning the world championship was a dream of mine since I was a little girl. I trained so hard to achieve that goal and it was definitely the best feeling ever."

"I was the youngest player in the league and I didn’t understand what was going on."

"I am really interested to help young females to achieve what they want to. I try to be as much of a role model as I can because I want to help and inspire other people—not only in sports but whatever goal they have"

"I was the first female swimmer in the country’s history."

"It is every athlete’s dream to compete in the Olympics and the competition is stiff. We might have qualified via wild card but in every sport, anything can happen. I am going there to compete not to make up the numbers."

"It is my life’s work as a wellness coach, yoga instructor and personal trainer to inspire those who work with me to realise their best self ever."

"My passion is to find a balance between living a full productive, healthy life as a woman, as a wife and as a friend. It is my mission to help you do the same."

"Teresa Moodie. im a fun loving hard working mom of a teenager."

"Speaking on her new role as JET’s CEO Dr. Rodriguez-Moodie explained, “Growing up I always had a deep passion for the environment and its sustainability. As the activist Wangari Maathai once said – if we cannot sustain the environment, we cannot sustain ourselves. I have always admired JET’s work, and it is an honour to now be leading this amazing organization. I have a vision of a clean and healthy Jamaican environment, and I am looking forward to working with JET’s staff, membership, and other stakeholders to achieve that. We intend to continue to build greater awareness and understanding, so others will be as concerned as we are, we need all hands on deck."

"I did not see this coming, I am excited because you guys have made my day. I am hoping to come to Kenya next year for the nationals and I have my eyes set on the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo."

"Our aim is to develop the swimming sport in Rwanda, honoring athletes and their coaches. So, there is much more to come."

"Coaches ought to converse with athletes, with objectives they have to contribute a lot to the development of swimming sport in the country."