explained about her fear on a one-meter springboard. “That isn’t the kind of thing a good diver has to worry about,
right?”
Carly laughed.
“Wrong!
Totally wrong!”
Valerie flashed Traci a grin. “See?”
“I’ve known maybe a hundred divers,” Carly said, “and most of them were frightened when they first started diving. I think
it’s the way most people are.The first time I got on a diving board, I couldn’t move at all! I wanted to climb back down the ladder and go home.”
“How old were you?” Traci asked.
“Eight. But it doesn’t matter,” Carly said. “There are divers in my group who are
still
scared every time they dive. And they’re our age. They manage to deal with it somehow.”
Traci felt a little better. “What about you? Are you still scared?”
“Not as much as I once was. But I still get butterflies. Especially on a platform, for some reason.” Carly leaned forward
and looked hard at Traci.
“If you think that being scared is enough of a reason to quit diving, you’re wrong. And if you think that Margo is going to
give up on you, you’re wrong again. If Margo thinks you can be a diver, she’ll stand by you. And if she told you she thinks
you can be a good diver, believe it.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Valerie said, waving her hands in the air. “Maybe she’ll believe it coming from you,
since you’ve been there.”
“How did you get used to diving when you were afraid?” Traci asked.
Carly thought for a moment before replying. “The more I dived, the less the fear got to me. It didn’t go away, but it changed,
somehow. Now the butterflies give me a kind of jolt, a charge of, I don’t know, excitement and anticipation. It’s like my
nerves are tingling and every part of me is focused on the dive. Does that make sense?”
Traci nodded slowly. “You know what? It does. It’s the way I used to feel right before starting my routine on the balance
beam. I felt electric.”
“Exactly!” Carly said, grinning.
Valerie laughed and turned to Carly. “Trace was an awesome gymnast, until she suddenly got so tall and her knees started giving
her trouble. She was almost as good as me!”
“Almost?”
Traci yelled in mock outrage. “You never saw the day you could do a balance beam routine as good as mine!”
“Well, with my new coach, I’ll ace the balance beam soon. I bet he’s as good as Margo,” Valerie answered.
“Margo’s something else,” Carly said, the admiration in her voice clear. “And, Traci, you’ll find out that she really cares
about everyone she works with.I can’t really say more than that, because Margo doesn’t like us to brag about her. But she’d do anything for us—and we’d
do anything for her.”
Traci sat back and thought about Carly’s devotion to the coach. Margo must have done something to deserve it. Then and there,
she told herself that she’d master her fear of the board and her anxiety over Margo somehow. And that she’d keep on with her
diving.
9
D uring the next month, Traci found that Carly had been right. Her fear was slowly changing into that electric kind of jolt
they’d talked about. Traci never relaxed completely on a springboard, but maybe that was a good thing. It was what Margo had
said early on: Being nervous meant you paid attention more—and weren’t as likely to mess up or get hurt.
At the same time, her diving improved. A week after learning simple forward dives, Traci began working on backward dives.
She started with a simple backward dive in the straight position.
“As you jump,” Sophia said, “arch your back and neck to see the water as you enter.”
On Traci’s first try, she didn’t keep her body straight and hit the water with a huge splash. But she didn’tget upset. She knew that she wasn’t expected to be perfect right away. She climbed out of the pool, looked at Sophia, and
said, “Oops.”
Sophia laughed. “You
right?”
Carly laughed.
“Wrong!
Totally wrong!”
Valerie flashed Traci a grin. “See?”
“I’ve known maybe a hundred divers,” Carly said, “and most of them were frightened when they first started diving. I think
it’s the way most people are.The first time I got on a diving board, I couldn’t move at all! I wanted to climb back down the ladder and go home.”
“How old were you?” Traci asked.
“Eight. But it doesn’t matter,” Carly said. “There are divers in my group who are
still
scared every time they dive. And they’re our age. They manage to deal with it somehow.”
Traci felt a little better. “What about you? Are you still scared?”
“Not as much as I once was. But I still get butterflies. Especially on a platform, for some reason.” Carly leaned forward
and looked hard at Traci.
“If you think that being scared is enough of a reason to quit diving, you’re wrong. And if you think that Margo is going to
give up on you, you’re wrong again. If Margo thinks you can be a diver, she’ll stand by you. And if she told you she thinks
you can be a good diver, believe it.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” Valerie said, waving her hands in the air. “Maybe she’ll believe it coming from you,
since you’ve been there.”
“How did you get used to diving when you were afraid?” Traci asked.
Carly thought for a moment before replying. “The more I dived, the less the fear got to me. It didn’t go away, but it changed,
somehow. Now the butterflies give me a kind of jolt, a charge of, I don’t know, excitement and anticipation. It’s like my
nerves are tingling and every part of me is focused on the dive. Does that make sense?”
Traci nodded slowly. “You know what? It does. It’s the way I used to feel right before starting my routine on the balance
beam. I felt electric.”
“Exactly!” Carly said, grinning.
Valerie laughed and turned to Carly. “Trace was an awesome gymnast, until she suddenly got so tall and her knees started giving
her trouble. She was almost as good as me!”
“Almost?”
Traci yelled in mock outrage. “You never saw the day you could do a balance beam routine as good as mine!”
“Well, with my new coach, I’ll ace the balance beam soon. I bet he’s as good as Margo,” Valerie answered.
“Margo’s something else,” Carly said, the admiration in her voice clear. “And, Traci, you’ll find out that she really cares
about everyone she works with.I can’t really say more than that, because Margo doesn’t like us to brag about her. But she’d do anything for us—and we’d
do anything for her.”
Traci sat back and thought about Carly’s devotion to the coach. Margo must have done something to deserve it. Then and there,
she told herself that she’d master her fear of the board and her anxiety over Margo somehow. And that she’d keep on with her
diving.
9
D uring the next month, Traci found that Carly had been right. Her fear was slowly changing into that electric kind of jolt
they’d talked about. Traci never relaxed completely on a springboard, but maybe that was a good thing. It was what Margo had
said early on: Being nervous meant you paid attention more—and weren’t as likely to mess up or get hurt.
At the same time, her diving improved. A week after learning simple forward dives, Traci began working on backward dives.
She started with a simple backward dive in the straight position.
“As you jump,” Sophia said, “arch your back and neck to see the water as you enter.”
On Traci’s first try, she didn’t keep her body straight and hit the water with a huge splash. But she didn’tget upset. She knew that she wasn’t expected to be perfect right away. She climbed out of the pool, looked at Sophia, and
said, “Oops.”
Sophia laughed. “You
Similar Books
