Pressure, Judgement and expectations. Three things that can make or break any athlete. Amanda Beard’s personal biography displays to everyone the darkness that is chasing every athlete and what happens if you get swallowed by it along with how to escape it. She showed me how any athlete no matter what gender or race still faces distractions, discrimination, pressure, temptation and how hard it can be to overcome theses things in order to succeed Amanda at age 14 had no worry about pressure or judgement she swam as she loved how it made her feel. After her first practice in her new swimming team after her parents divorced she had a moment of self discovery, “I discovered something about myself. While I hate being slower than the others around me, I understood this was an adjustment period, my speed didn’t dictate my dedication. …show more content…
I loved being in the pool; I loved swimming.” Every athlete has an idol or inspiration. They strive to achieve greatness, but many can not handle losing or criticism. There will always be someone faster, fitter and better than you. Amanda realised this at a young age and used it as her inspiration to improve, she wanted to be the best the one who others were striving to be like. Being a swimmer allowed Amanda to be in control of everything that she did and not having to rely on anyone else, “I was happy to be in control of myself and no one else. There was no one else to blame if I didn't swim well. I was accountable for showing up, getting in the pool, and working my ass off. But I was also in complete control of my success.” Swimming is a very isolated sport, when you win you win on your own, when you lose you lose alone. There is no ‘team’ as such to put your faith