Oklahoma swimmer blogs during camp at Olympic Training Center;
Day one crazy, but exciting
May 7, 2:20 a.m.
Mom wakes me up because our flight has been canceled. Crazy Oklahoma weather! We had storms, winds, flooding and tornados. Did I mention that there were also TIGERS on the loose, wild tigers? This caused our flight to get canceled.
May 7, 2:45 a.m.
We stumble to the car to go pick up Coach Elise and head to Tulsa, an hour and a half away, for another flight. I instantly regret that I thought our original 5 a.m. wake-up time was bad.
May 7, 4:45 a.m.
As we approach the airport, Coach Elise’s worst nightmare comes true; Starbucks is closed. As we get to our gate in Tulsa, I realize what happened. We have a full flight because OKC closed its airport.
May 7, 8 a.m.
When we get off the plane in Dallas, we walk like a mile and a half to make our connecting flight. I feel like I’m getting some shin splints. It’s serious.
May 7, 11:10 a.m.
We arrive in Colorado Springs. Somehow Coach Elise and I are the first arrivals. Since when does that happen?! After the rest of the swimmers arrive, we get on a bus to go to the training center where a coach tells us not to over eat?!?!? Like what…no!
May 7, 1 p.m.
As practice approaches, I realized that altitude training isn’t nearly as hard as it was made out to be.
May 7, 7 p.m.
During our meetings today, we learned that as a group, potential rises for success.
About Kade: Kade Knoch, a 14-year-old sectional swimmer for Oklahoma City’s King Marlin Swim Club, got into swimming at age 10 when baseball didn’t work out. He decided he liked it when his coach got in the water and made a game out of learning to swim. Since then, he’s swum all across the central United States working on that next best time. Kade currently holds 11 Oklahoma state records and has two appearances on USA Swimming’s All-Time Top 100s list. He also swims for Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., and in his first year, set two individual records for his school. Now, Kade is working toward a Junior National cut. When he’s not at the pool, he can be found splashing in the creek behind his house or in his kitchen eating a huge bowl of pasta.
About KMSC: KMSC is a competitive USA Swimming team with locations at Oklahoma City Community College in south Oklahoma City, The Lighthouse in northwest Oklahoma City and Mitch Park YMCA in Edmond. The team was created in spring 2014 by longtime Oklahoma City area coaches John Brown, Kathy Mendez and Josh Everett.