The stuff dreams are made of.

Like most of the nation, and Olympic viewers, our household of 9 has been obsessed with watching Michael Phelps compete. This is largely due to the fact that my 11 year old brother McKay is completely in awe of him, and has been inspired by him to be an Olympic swimmer. After hearing how he started swimming at the age of 11, McKay knew it was the perfect time to start realizing his dream too. I took him to Target one day and he bought a pair of goggles and a swim cap. He followed the directions for preparing your swim cap on the package very precisely, so that his cap was perfect for racing. Then he went right out to the pool and swam laps for about an hour. He was so serious, and knowing McKay, I believe that in his mind he was not in our pool, but in an Olympic race. He and Aaron had a great conversation at lunch one day about what sacrifices need to be made to be at that level of competition, and McKay said he was fully prepared to make all sacrifices necessary, including giving up football this year, something he has been waiting to do since birth. Everytime all the cousins get together to swim, he organizes them into relays and races. He and our cousin Taylor even started swim lessons last week, learning to do all the strokes, turning, starting, and everything else they need to know. He really is a great little swimmer, so my mom wanted to get him in lessons while he was all fired up. It's stories like this that make me love the Olympics even more. Ordinary people who have worked extraordinarily hard to accomplish amazing feats...and the people, especially the youth they inspire. We need great role models for all aspects of life, and Michael Phelps has definitely inspired my little brother to dream big, and to work hard to accomplish that dream.


I convinced McKay to let me take a few pictures to document the beginning of his swimming career.