However, those medals began as a glimmer in his eye in that photo from Athens. We saw a similar story in Rio with the young Singaporean swimmer, Joseph Schooling, who beat Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly. He too had a glimmer is his eye in a similar photo from 2008 when Phelps trained in Singapore when Schooling was just 13. This is the power of perspective.



While I didn’t watch the Olympics at age 10, my coach Daniel Costin always encouraged me to get the exposure I needed to see the next level clearly. At 13, he sent me off to Kansas City, Missouri for the summer. Why was I shipped off to the land of fantastic barbeque, you might ask? This was the place where Vladimir Nazlymov, 6-time Olympic Medalist, held summer camps each year. These camps were critically important in my development because I was able to watch and even fence with some of the best in men’s saber athletes at the time, such as Terrence Lasker and Jeremy Summers & Tim Summers.

On the weekends, we would all gather around the TV at Vladimir’s house and watch old videos of him from Olympics past. I remember being enraptured by his fluid and technically flawless style. These experiences formed the basis of my relationship with Vladimir and helped me understand what was possible if I put my mind (and sweat) into my passion. I would also later attend The Ohio State University – where Vladimir subsequently took over the program – to work with him because I understood the type great training environment he could create for me.