The posts made by Greta and Alan lately have been very positve. Since Bretts move from Heppin County Medical Center to Gillette Children's Specialty Hospital he has been making so many improvements. The most recent improvemnts are: Brett is able to hold a mark and color on paper, mostly scribbles but he was intructed to write the letter "B" and he drew a lower case "b" ! Another accompishment of Bretts is using vocal communcation. If a nurse or his mother or vistiros ask him a yes or no question it normally takes him abouut 5 - 15 seconds to respond back with a "un huh" or "nah huh" . Another achivement he has made recently is starting to eat normal foods bits at a time, he enjoys food that is soft and easy to eat like, ice cream and cottage cheese. His improvements have been making eveyone hopeful. His strength is shinning through and he is on the road to recovery! YAY BRETT!
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 303 - end of the book)
In the last few chapters of this book, many life changing things took place. Georgia had her surgery for her cancer and had been going through chemo, Lucie was pregnant and was ready to become a single mom, Anita decided to move in with Marty, and Cat's career took off with the starting of an Antique store outside of the city. Georgia's surgery itself went well, but the chemo was wearing her out and she did not have as much time to spend with Dakota and help out at the store. The day Lucie went into labor Georgia was feeling very ill and went to the hospital. The doctors found out that there was a blockage in one of her arteries and that it could not be fixed. Before Georgia passed away the ladies from the knitting club gave Georgia an afghan that they all had knitted, Georgia loved it and was so happy that they all cared about her so much. Dakota, Anita and James got to say their goodbyes to Georgia. Her death was tragic and Dakota was having a very hard time with it, Anita, James and Cat were all there for her though. If I took any lesson from this book it was that life is too short to worry about the small things. Georgia's loved ones were not expecting this end in her life but they got through it and they all had to make changes to their lives because of her death. The unexpected happened but some good things came out of it.
On the Internet heroes can be shown in many different ways. For example, with swimming heroes there are people from all over the world represented. Male and female swimmers are also present. Divers and synchronized swimmers along with competitive lap swimmers are the categories of people considered to be swimming heroes. Olympic swimmers and swimmers that compete in the national league are both heroes on the Internet.
Michael Phelps, one of the more recent swimming heroes.
Training Michael Phelps: American flyer Swimming Technique , Jan-Mar 2003 by Bowman, Bob
One component of Michael Phelps' phenomenal success is his "made-for-swimming" physique. But the main component is the carefully-crafted training program that his coach, Bob Bowman, has created for him. Here, Coach Bowman-the 2001 ASCA Coach of the Year-describes his training protocols and provides sample workouts. I think it was pretty clear from the beginning that Michael Phelps was a special swimmer. When he joined us at North Baltimore Aquatic Club as a 7-year-old, he was a baseball/ soccer/ lacrosse athlete. His first year, he just did a 60minute, once-a-week stroke clinic with our aquatics director, Cathy Lears. His training and intensity escalated from there to where, by the time he was 10 and setting NAG records, he was better than many of the older swimmers. Obviously, we had to do some rapid lane promotions. To those who knew the Phelps aquatic heritage, his prowess was no surprise. His oldest sister, Hilary, was a national-level swimmer. His second sister, Whitney, was also a 200 flyer. She made the 1994 World Championship team that competed in Rome, and she still holds the 11 - 12 NAG record in the 100 yard fly. So, in many ways, swimming excellence has been a family trait. And while it is also tempting to think of Michael only in terms of the fly and IM, a review of his record reveals a litany of national rankings in the free and back as well.
I choose to present Michael Phelps as a hero because he is one of the most recent known swimming heroes. His 8 gold medals in the 2008 Olympics are one of the reasons that he is considered a hero. He is represented a lot in the Internet in the "swimming heroes" category. These artifacts taught me that the training is really important to succeeding.
A swimming hero from the past : Jill Sterkel
Jill Sterkel
”A person's attitude, effort and commitment provide the power and passion that makes unique and special things happen.”
Jill Sterkel, four-time Olympian
By Sharon Robb
In 1999, Sterkel became one of the first females to break into USA Swimming’s coaching hierarchy, serving as a member of the Pan American coaching staff in Winnepeg, Canada. Two years later she was named Team USA’s assistant coach at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, the first U.S. female to coach at that level.
“She’s an American swimming legend,” said USA Swimming president Dale Neuburger. “And she’s already distinguished herself as one of our country’s foremost coaches.”
I wanted to represtent Jill Sterkel as a swimming hero because the internet shows that not only are there present day swimming heroes but there are also swimming heros from the past. Jill along with many others held records in previous Olympics and were just as accomplished as present day swimming heroes.
Swimming Heroes from around the world:
Alexandre Despatie, Canada
KualaLumpur - 1998
One of the most endearing images from the last games was that of another child prodigy. Alexandre Despatie picked up the diving gold in the men's platform event at the age of just 13 and promptly burst into tears.
Ian Thorpe, Australia
KualaLumpur - 1998
While Susie O'Neill was reaching the pinnacle of her career, just starting out on his was 15-year-old Australian Ian Thorpe. The youngster bagged four gold medals of his own prompting team coach Don Talbot to gush, "You can't believe he's 15. Its genetics gone bloody crazy!" Since the 98 Games, Thorpe has gone on to take the world of swimming by storm and the pool heartthrob is set to raise the roof of the Aquatics Centre in Manchester when he hits the water.
Sylvie Frechette, Canada
Edinburgh 1986, Auckland 1990
Sylvie picked up the Gold in the solo synchronised swimming in both 1986 and 1990, the first two times the sport was included in the Commonwealth Games. Technically brilliant and a role-model for countless modern day swimmers, she is best remembered for an amazing row over an Olympic gold medal after the Barcleona games. A Brazilian judge pressed the wrong button when awarding his scores giving the gold medal to American rival Kristen Babb-Sprague having awarded Frechette 8.7 rather than 9.7. After a year of arguing Frechette was eventually awarded a gold medal but Babb-Sprague was allowed to keep hers too.
Susie O'Neill, Australia
Victoria 1994, KualaLumpur 1998
Australian Susie O'Neill became the greatest swimmer in Commonwealth Games history at the KualaLumpur games when she picked up six more golds to add to her previous four. The Olympic and world champion wowed the crowds and sent Aussies back home wild with delight as their swim team swept the board
World known swimming champions aren't only known in the United States. There are many people from different countries that have just as many accomplishments as those in the US. There have been many that go to the Olympics as well as national competitions. Records have been set by these people as well. They also do more than just lap swim, there are famous foreign divers and synchronized swimmers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found out many things about how "swimming heroes" are portrayed online. A few different categories are, male and female, United States swimmers and foreign swimmers and present day heroes and heroes from the past. These swimming heroes are looked at very highly from fan of them and are well represented on the internet.
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 257 - 302)
James has been around more in Georgia and Dakota's life, Georgia decided that it was time for James to move in. That has been the least bit of Georgia's worries though. Just recently she went to the doctor and found out that she has ovarian cancer. She has been seeing doctors to get the best treatment but is very scared to tell James and Dakota, but she did open up to the knitting club and told them what was going on and that she was going to need surgery. Her next task is to tell Dakota and James. I think if she does open up to her daughter and her daughters father that their relationship and grow and they can build more trust. I think it is a great opportunity for James to support her in a tough time. This is also a good time for Georgia to kind of chill out and realize that she does not have to be a super mom, always positive, and always caring for others, so that she can have some time to herself.
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 152 - 256)
Since the Easter dinner with James and Anita, an event that shook up Georgia quite a bit was when she went up to her apartment after working in the shop and not finding her daughter but a note from her saying she went to Baltimore to see her grandparents. Georgia rushed to the train station with Cat and James to stop her. The reasoning behind Dakota leaving was she wanted to find out about her family and where she was from. So Georgia decided to plan a trip to Scotland for Dakota to meet her great grandma. Cat joined Dakota and Georgia on their trip to Scotland. After about a week overseas an unexpected guest showed up, James came to grans house late one night and surely surprised Georgia. Reconnecting with James in Scotland proved how much she still loved him, even after the past 13 years of being absent in their lives, Georgia still had feelings for him. I have a feeling that James will be around more now.
The Friday Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 140-151)
What has happened most recently in The Friday Night Knitting Club is that Lucie decided that she wanted to have a baby so she has been going to Planned Parenthood to figure things out and when she was there she ran into Darwin. They went out to lunch and began to get to know each other on a different level. Another important event that happened was that they kind of turned the knitting club into a potluck dinner. Everyone brought a different food to share with everyone and it made them all stay later and get deeper in conversations. An unexpected visitor decided to join the knitting club in the last chapter: Cat, Georgia's best friend from high school, made things a little bit awkward but soon things smoothed out. Easter Sunday dinner closed chapter ten. Georgia was nervous for that night, but it turned out fine, except for the part when Dakota was telling everyone how she was related to James' family and everything, but in reality they do not even know she exists.
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 45 - 139)
In the last part of The Friday Night Knitting Club that I have read there has been more information given about how Georgia met the father of her child, James, and how their relationship ended. Georgia's daughter, Dakota, has been seeing more of her father and is starting to make a relationship with him. That is very hard for Georgia because having her first love come back in her life is messing up her emotions. Another major thing that has happened was Georgia's best friend from high school, Cat Phillips, came into her shop wanting Georgia to make a dress for her. Through this job that Georgia is doing for Cat their friendship has had a new beginning. The knitting club has become an even more eventful thing, Lucie and Darwin are starting to become regular attendees. The latest news that was talked about was that James is going to spend Easter with Georgia, Dakota and Anita. Georgia is not sure how it is going to go, and she is not sure what to think of it.
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 17-44)
In chapter 2 it starts off with Dakotas unpresent father wanting a part in her life. Georgia feels that he should not be apart of her life but she can not do anything about him wanting to see her. Another important event was when Marty, a man that works at the deli near the yarn store, asks Anita out on a date, but she refused to miss the knitting club so she declined the invitation to dinner. In this chapter Georgia is realizing that Dakota is growing up and is wanting more independence from her mother. What I have learned about Georgia in this section is that she is a woman that does not feel so comfortable with talking to people and making strong relationships and she would rather just be on her own. Although she does not seem to care about strong friendships she values the ones that she has now, like her relationship with Anita and Dakota.
The Friday Night Knitting Club By: Kate Jacobs (pages 1-16)
The book that I have just started is The Friday Night Knitting Club. So far in the book, the main character, Georgia, introduced details about her yarn shop in New York City. She told about her daughter, Dakota, and an old lady, Anita who works in her store. The first chapter also explained how this Friday night knitting club just kind of happened. They would normally have a few people come in to the store later at night and eventually they people just kind of hung around and started talking and now it is a weekly thing. There was a quote made by Anita in the reading that said " You have a gift, my dear, and I have an eye for talent." The significance of this quote is that Georgia really is gifted when it comes to knitting and that is why she has this yarn store and this is how she has connected with so many people. Anita started to work and the store and over the years Anita and Georgia have became rather close.
