Impossible is Nothing: How Passion Can Lead to Busting Limits

Photo Courtesy: Evan Pike - USA TODAY Sports Images

By Katie Willis, Swimming World College Intern

I’ve never liked the concept of having limitations. But we are human, therefore we are incapable of the impossible. Still, I like to believe that there are ways of reaching levels of implausibility. The methods are not simple, they are not guaranteed, but when you are willing to leave it all on the line, there is nothing to lose but much to gain.

I like to look at swimming in the same light because time determines everything in the world of swimming. Swimmers are all after the same thing, always putting themselves out there to be the fastest and the best, but there comes a point where we wonder: how fast can we really go?

Photo Courtesy: Robin Sparf

Dropping time is not an easy task. It is a challenge for every single swimmer, even for (or especially for) big-name Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps or Natalie Coughlin. In every swimmer’s career, there are times where you feel you’ve hit a wall. Suddenly you find it hard to throw out best times and you can’t wrap your head around it. You can throw the blame on just about anything to make it seem reasonably just, but it is exactly these types of excuses that continue to hold us back.

“All you want is for the pain to stop and to be able to breathe, that’s your only goal, your only need. It’s the same as success. When you want something as much as you want to breathe, you will overcome the pain and you will achieve greatness.” – Ryan Jones

I reached out to Caroline Henderson, a rising senior at Susquehanna University to hear her story of struggling with a serious long term injury and how she managed to surpass the limitations put on her swimming career and achieve success.

Caroline had specialized in butterfly her entire swimming career until dislocating her shoulder in the seventh grade. Then, as the shoulder pain continued to affect her daily life, her doctor diagnosed her with tendinitis and recommended physical therapy. However, when the pain continued into college, Caroline was faced with a huge decision.

“I was ready to quit swimming; I was done dealing with my shoulder. I felt awful and no one could tell me what was wrong.”

A doctor told her surgery would be the right path to take to eliminate the pain completely, but if she were to go through with the surgery she would have to sacrifice swimming; something she had dedicated her entire life to.

“It was at that point where I was told the odds that I would ever swim again where slim to none,” Henderson said. “So my surgery was scheduled and I just kind of accepted my fate. ‘Caroline the swimmer’ was gone.”

One of the hardest things to do was to call her coaches. But after long conversations with both of her coaches and some self-reflection, she finally made the tough decision not to go through with the surgery.

“I needed to tough it out for two more years; not for me, but for my teammates,” she said. “My teammates are my everything and without me, I knew my team would be taking a big loss.”

Caroline came to a realization that all she wanted to do was swim. Even if would be the last time in her life she needed at least one more race.

“One huge lesson I learned from all of this is to believe in yourself even when no one else does,” Henderson said. “The doctors told me I would never race again. I proved them way wrong. With the help of my coaches, parents and teammates I was able to achieve the impossible.”

Caroline’s story exemplifies how passion can overcome anything. When you love something so deeply and you cannot imagine not doing it anymore, you’d do anything just to pursue your passion. It is the kind of thing that should keep us motivated every single day. Stories like Henderson’s add to my belief that we should not accept our fate when something is deemed “impossible”. The impossible shouldn’t be seen as a limitation, but a goal.

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