Young swimmer, Mia Wurster, tested herself under an unusual kind of stress for a 10-year-old.
It required that she take time off from both school and swimming, but for Mia, it was worth it.
Even though she was cool and calm in Junior Olympic 500 and 200 frees, she was giddy with nerves as she competed in Master Chef Junior (the reality TV show on Fox.)
Mia did do something that she does in her swimming routine in prepping for the reality show tryouts– she practiced. She made the finals, and in fact, made it to the top 12.
But it was her alligator dish that sent her packing. The show chef called it tough and that was enough to end her stint on the show. Even at her young age, Mia was gracious in the face of failure and talked showed how grateful she was for the experience of competing.
How does this fit in with Mia’s swimming? Well, there has actually been some reciprocity. Mia’s swimming helped her cooking and her cooking has helped Mia’s swimming.
Let’s look at what young Mia was able to do:
• Perfect skills through practice.
• Use persistence to open up opportunities.
• Use creativity to get results.
• Show poise under pressure.
• Focus and finish.
• Respond to elimination with grace.
And for a 10-year-old, what Mia exhibits is quite impressive.
In addition, Mia has developed a knowledge of nutrition that far exceeds what any of her contemporaries have and use that knowledge to improve her results – in both cooking and swimming.
The commonality between the two – qualifying for Junior Olympics and competing on the cooking show – is the pressure. “They were both scary and fun and the same time,” Mia said.
Mia’s experience shows how amazingly the skills that develop in young swimmers can help them face and overcome all sorts of challenges today and in the future.
SOURCE: Splash, March/April 2015
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