The
Most Influential Person In My Life
"Heep, heep,
go!" Those are the words every swimmer will hear at a swim meet
under coach Kacy Ota. Kacy was not only the best coach Selma has
ever had, he was also one of the most down-to-earth person anyone
could meet. He never gave up on his swimmers and always knew what to
say after an event. This is why Kacy Ota is the most influential
person in my life.
I opened the fenced
door into my first day of swim practice. I remember the first person
I saw was Kacy, he was sitting on a table, staring at the pool. He
had long straight hair and a full beard. I said to myself "Wow
, he looks like he just got out of prison for murdering someone who
coughed in his pool. I feel bad for whoever's coach that will be."
Now I was under the impression that Coach Manter was the Varsity
coach. I learned two lessons that day, never judge a book by its
cover, and second, seriously, never judge a book by its cover.
It turned out the
scary coach, who did not talk nor seemed to breathe, would be my
coach for my first year of swimming. I was fresh meat on Varsity and
after a workout that left me dragging myself out of the pool, Kacy
asked me, "How was your first day of practice, (Edited
Writer's Name)?" I struggled to reply, "It was
awesome!" Deep down inside, I knew the only thing that was
awesome about that day was practice being over.
I had no idea how
to swim. Kacy could see that. However, what made him the best coach
was that he didn't care how well you swam; he would make you into a
real swimmer and he never gave up on you. It had been a long season
and I reached the point of peak performance. The Central Sequoia
League swim meet was in a week. Kacy had me put my back against the
wall and reach out my hand, then he asked me to use my shoulder to
extend, "How much farther can you reach?" "A whole
hand." I replied. Kacy said "With the length of the pool in
a 200 yard freestyle, you can cut your strokes by about 9 or 10 if
you use your shoulder." I also remember before practice, Kacy
had given us a few words of wisdom. "You can't accomplish the
impossible if you don't challenge the impossible." Nobody said
qualifying for Division 2 was going to be easy. Nobody said placing
first in your event was a sure thing. If I want something im going
to have to work harder than anyone in the Valley to get it. I have
lived by those words, and , at the final swim meet, Kacy had said "I
am the next (Edited, another Former Swimmers
name). He didn't know how to swim but with hard work and
dedication he ended up a good swimmer." I was one second short
of qualifying for D2, this was my last chance. I got on the dive
block, and I remember everything slowing down. The only words in my
head were "(Edited Former Swimmers name
again)." The buzzer went off, and I swam my heart out;
however, a bad flip turn ruined the race for me. I was two seconds
slower than my top performance. I got out of the pool and I held in
the tears, the hard work would not pay off my junior year. Kacy
talked to me, calmed me down and told me what I did wrong. He put it
in a way that made me feel good about that event.
Kacy Ota is no
longer the coach at Selma High. Most of the swim team can feel how
different this year had been. I, myself, feel like I haven't learn
anything. However, Kacy still coaches me through Facebook. He
messages me tips and motivational words. He is still the reason why
my times continue to improve. Kacy Ota has been and always will be
the most influential person in my life, as a coach and as a friend.
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It is great to know I can do this by just doing my job and being myself. The greatest part is that there are so many swim coaches out there that have made an impact in their athletes lives, and I know that I fall into that category. It is not the reason I first began coaching, but it sure is a great reason why I love to coach now.
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