By Marlon Munroe
Every race is just like starting over, says gold-medallist swimmer Jessica Stephenson, even after a win. And her medal haul at the recent Carifta Swimming Championships capped off a very new start as she shrugged off a devastating injury
“Every time I swim, I start off with a new slate,” Stephenson, 15, told Stabroek Sport in an interview. “You can’t think of past competitions because the past is the past. It has taken me quite a while to accept this but it is all learning and I think I am getting better because I am not letting race results affect me,” she added.
It was a lesson she was forced to learn the hard way. After capturing the country’s first medal at the Championships in 2008, Stephenson, who is based at the Marlyn’s Swim Club in Trinidad & Tobago, was forced to stop swimming to undergo shoulder surgery. “It was a devastating period for me,” she said. “I was able to pop my shoulder out at any point in time.” The deformity, a huge gap between the shoulder and arm bones that caused the constant dislocation, would have been detected had she not been swimming.
While still recovering from an arthroscopic shoulder stabilisation surgery that she underwent, Stephenson missed last year’s Championships. However, with physiotherapy her road to recovery culminated in gold medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and a bronze in the 50m at the recently-concluded games in Jamaica. Putting her success into perspective, she said if a swimmer lacks the will to succeed, not even “amazing talents” would be enough. According to her, she was taught that swimming is 10% talent and the rest is purely a matter of determination, the heart and the mind.
Stephenson still has her sights set on representing Guyana at the 2012 Olympics, in London, but she is already gazing beyond. She expects to peak at the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro.
She has already started training, which includes a brief stint in the US last November with Olympic swimmers Gary Hall Sr. and Gary Hall Jr. According to Stephenson, she grabs every opportunity for exposure to higher levels of training. “When you meet new people and new coaches, along with new training experiences, it helps you to expand your horizons,” she said.
Gary Hall, Jr. competed in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and won 10 medals, including five gold, three silver and two bronze medals. His father, Gary Hall, Sr. became famous during the late 60s and 70s as an Olympic swimmer and in 1970 he broke the world record in the 200m butterfly
After Stephenson’s win in the 200m breaststroke in Jamaica, the Halls sent her a congratulatory message.
Stephenson has been swimming since age eight. Although she has missed out on the life of regular teenager, the honour-roll student feels that every minute she spends in the pool is worth it.
Her mother, Jevina, who doubles as her manager, said the key for Jessica has been balancing her time with surgical precision. Jevin also said that in order for her to be effective, she has to draw the line between being a mother and a manager. “I separate myself entirely from being Jessie’s mom. My job is to ensure that the swimmers only think of swimming [and] that means I provide them with their food, I ensure that they get their sleep and every other thing so their mind is focused on only swimming,” she explained.
Although she confessed that she cannot swim, Jevina said that her strength is her ability to maintain order and she credited her experiences in the hotel industry in helping her mould her daughter and setting the right work ethic. At the same time, she said Guyana needs to quickly get an Olympic size pool. She bluntly said anything less would not be sufficient if Guyanese swimmers are to truly compete at an international level.
