ENGLISH PROJECT REPORT

2022-2023

Interviewing a Swimmer

STUDENT NAME aaci i:-cciSharone Jonatin Justin

CLASS & SECTIONaiiia:-cciXII-E

REGISTRATION NO.cci:-
 INDEX:

S.NO CONTENT Page No.

1. Certificate 3

2. Acknowledgement 4

3. Introduction 5

4. Proof 6

5. About the Interviewee 8

6. Interview 9

7. Challenges faced by Swimmers 12

8. Report 14

10. Bibliography 17

2
 Certificate:

This is to certify that the Project Report entitled

“Interviewing a swimmer” by Sharone Jonatin Justin,
Class XII, Section E, Registration no ________, Year 2022-2023
has been successfully completed under my guidance and supervision.

Signature of the Project Guide:

3
 Acknowledgement:

This project has given me the golden opportunity

for learning and developing my skills.
I am grateful to Mrs. Jayalakshmi, my Project Guide,
for encouraging and motivating me to accomplish my project.

Signature of the student:

4
 INTRODUCTION:

Objectives:

➢ To learn about the experiences and challenges faced by a swimmer.

➢ To learn about the professional life of a swimmer.

➢ To expand our views on the art of swimming.

Methods & Techniques:

Day 1: Our English teacher made us aware of the project.

Day 2: The topic for the project was decided.

Day 3: I gathered information from various resources.

Day 4: The accumulated information and content were shortlisted and the
appropriate questions for the interview were confirmed.

Day 5: The finalized information was altered and a rough copy was made.

Day 6: The rough copy was submitted to our teacher. Our teacher checked
them and suggested some necessary changes.

Day 7: After making the necessary changes, the final version of the project
i was accomplished. Thus, I finished the project report.

5
 PROOF:

Summary of “Deep Water” by William O. Douglas:

The lesson “Deep Water” is an excerpt

taken from the book “Of Men and
Mountains”, written by William O. Douglas,
and portrays his autobiographical journey of
overcoming the fear of water, which started
when he visited California with his father, at
the tender age of four. He was knocked
down by a wave that swept over him, with
the heat of the moment causing him to be
terrified by the incident, which, in turn,
ingrained a deep sense of fear within him.

A second incident, which occurred when he was eleven, further sustained

his fear of water, and took place in a swimming pool in Yakima, as he was
alone in the pool, trying to learn how to swim, when unexpectedly, an
18-year-old ‘bruiser of a boy’ decided to shove him into the 9-feet deep end
of the pool. When William reached the bottom, he struggled to catch air. He
couldn’t even scream for help as he began to feel paralyzed, and had
reached the state of oblivion, when somehow, he was rescued by adults.
However, this experience haunted him for a lifetime. Douglas felt restrained
whilst partaking in any water-related expeditions such as canoeing,
swimming and fishing.

6
It was due to this hindrance that he had decided to overcome his fear by
any means, predominantly by hiring a swim instructor, who helped the
author practice various exercises for several months. Despite the
completion of the course, there were still vestiges of the fear of water which
lurked in his heart. It was then that he had decided to confront the fear of
water by swimming in several nearby bodies of water, namely rivers,
creeks, and lakes, eventually managing to triumph over his fear.

Much like William Douglas, Michael Phelps, who is often dubbed as the
greatest swimmer ever, revealed that as a kid, he dreaded water. He was
attending an event organized by private equity fund Truenorth in Mumbai,
about a decade ago, when the legendary athlete, who was the global face
of swimming, said that many children like him are afraid of water, and that
he had started a non-profit initiative to help such children. To this day, his
project has so far taught 30,000 children in rural areas about swimming.

“I was somebody who was afraid to face the water as a kid, I guess I
overcame that fear pretty fast”, says Phelps who had the record-making
haul of 8 gold at Beijing in 2008. Speaking about his feat in the 2008
Games, he said that he was programmed to focus on exactly how much he
eats, drinks, swims and sleeps, during the 8-day competition. According to
him, he tried to be competitive throughout his entire career and never
rested on laurels. He quotes that “As a kid growing up, I wanted that feeling
of winning that Olympic gold and breaking a record, to become a
professional athlete. By 18 I had accomplished all these. I hate losing in
anything that I do. I hate losing more than I like winning”.

7
About the Interviewee:

Michael Phelps was born on June 30, 1985,

in Baltimore, Maryland, to Michael Fred
Phelps, a state trooper, and Deborah Sue
‘Debbie’ Phelps, a teacher. Michael attended
the Towson High School and took up
swimming at the age of seven, at the behest
of his mother and sisters, who wanted him to
treat the sport as an outlet for his energy, as
he was diagnosed with ADHD early in life.

Soon, Phelps fell in love with swimming and trained hard under coach Bob
Bowman. He participated in his first Olympics, the Sydney Games in 2000,
at the age of 15, making him the youngest in nearly seven decades to
represent the US at the biggest multi-sport extravaganza.

Phelps first made a splash on the international stage during the trials for
the 2001 World Aquatics Championships. Then aged 15 years and 9
months, he broke the 200-metre butterfly world record to become the
youngest to have ever achieved the feat.

In all his 24 years of professional competitive swimming, Michael Phelps

has built a formidable legacy around himself, winning a record of 28
Olympic medals, including 23 gold, out of which, 13 were from individual
events. To this day, he is the most successful Olympian of all time.

8
Interview:

ME: Greetings ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and to everyone who
may be reading this exclusive edition of the ‘Weekly Interview’. Since the
publication date for today’s issue is October 22, which coincidentally
happens to be the date for World Swim Day, we have decided to interview
Michael Phelps himself!

ME: Before we get things started, tell me, Michael, how are you doing?

PHELPS: I’m fine, thanks for asking, and yourself?

ME: That’s great to hear, I’m also keeping well. Anyways, first off, everyone
knows that you’ve created a vast legacy and reputation about the way you
go about the sport of swimming. Has the magnitude of your
accomplishments ever set in?

PHELPS: If you had asked me that right after the Olympics, I would have
said no, but at this point, I think it has. Everything that has happened in my
professional swimming career has totally changed my life forever.

ME: Let’s talk about your first event in Athens, where you scored gold and
set a world record. Did you know then that it was going to be special?

PHELPS: Hey, winning just one medal was special, but I tried not to think
of it like that. I tried to perform my best in each event, one step at a time,
and backed my approach until it worked out.

ME: You competed in the 2000 Games as a 15-year-old and finished fifth in
the 200-meter butterfly. Did that experience groom you for what was to
come in the future?

9
PHELPS: Definitely. I had a better idea of what competing on that grand
stage would be like. I think I was a little less nervous from that moment
onward because of my early experience.

ME: You're from Towson, Maryland just outside of Baltimore. Did you ever
swim in the Patapsco River?

PHELPS: I haven't swam in any of the rivers outside of Baltimore, as I try

to keep all my work ethics in the pool.

ME: How did it feel after retiring from the sport?

PHELPS: I can’t put it into words honestly. It’s been a surreal,

once-in-a-lifetime experience, and looking back on it, I feel truly blessed
and proud of how I’ve trained and committed myself for most of my life, to
make use of my potential, not to mention being eternally grateful for my
family for getting me into the sport. It also feels like a dream to have been
able to represent my own country, and bring pride to it.

ME: How often did you train during your time in the Olympics, and how long
did you stay in the pool?

PHELPS: I used to swim two to five hours every day, but I made sure I
never overworked myself or sustained injuries, by maintaining and looking
after a balanced lifestyle, although I've never lifted a single weight in my
life, despite my physique.

10
ME: What about your diet? Were you always eating super-healthy?

PHELPS: I eat pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want. I don't have
a strict diet. As odd as it sounds, my diet is all about cramming as many
calories into my system as I possibly can, and then eventually burning it
through my intensive swimming regime. To be frank, I do have a tough time
keeping weight on.

ME: Before we sign off, can you tell us why it is important that children and
adults know how to swim?

PHELPS: Swimming is an art that, admittedly, takes several years to ace.

However, it is significantly worth learning as it helps us enjoy water
activities, and primarily improve our fitness, health and physique.

ME: Well, there you have it, folks, if you enjoyed this week’s edition of the
‘Weekly Interview’, make sure to share it with all your family, friends and
relatives. A massive thank you to Michael Phelps for joining us, and as
always, thanks to you for reading!

PHELPS: It was my pleasure, thanks for having me. And, hey, maybe try to
learn swimming, if you haven’t already.

11
Challenges faced by Swimmers:

1. Early Mornings:-

Early morning swims can test any swimmer’s will. Swimming back and forth
as the world sleeps, swimmers work to sharpen their craft. One of the best
ways to power through early morning practices is to think through the
benefits. Mental toughness is quite possibly the most significant benefit of
enduring early morning swims. Being able to swim set after set with
success while you’re cold and sleep-deprived can give you the confidence
to own that next practice. Doing this day after day can help you become
better at time management as well, which is a vital skill for anybody.

2. Practice Food Needs:-

The second challenge swimmers commonly face is that intense hunger

both during and after practices. the body expends calories not only to keep
swimming but also to maintain its temperature. The colder the water, the
more of an appetite one develops. Caloric expenditure during swimming is
also affected by the type of stroke you swim. You will likely feel hungrier
after swimming a high-intensity stroke such as freestyle, backstroke, or
butterfly, as opposed to a resting stroke like breaststroke. The best way to
curb hunger is to fuel up beforehand. It is best to allow a gap of 2 - 4 hours
between a heavy meal and swimming, and 30 minutes to 2 hours between
snacks and swimming.

12
3. Bad Races:-

Another common challenge every athlete experiences is failure. After

putting in hours of work preparing for a race, goals are expected to be
reached. Of course, this is not always the case. To be successful, one
needs to fail and learn how to pick themselves up again. It is okay to be
disappointed, but you never want to beat yourself up too much as success
sometimes has to wait another turn.

4. Difficult Sets:-

Whether it’s the brackets, your stroke feels off, or you’ve just had a rough
day, we all have had those days where the energy and motivation simply
isn’t there. Something, a swim set can start to feel like too much to bear. If
it’s one of those days where you would rather be anywhere but the pool,
one strategy that could get you through is by visualizing success.

5. Balancing Swimming & Personal Life:-

Spending so much time in the pool can make it challenging to balance

swimming with daily life. Figuring out a schedule helps, especially when
you get older and have more responsibilities. With such a packed schedule,
it is essential to prioritize what is most important in your schedule and then
to find ways to fit in other things you enjoy when you can. Picking up a
planner can also help keep you organized and less stressed. Although
swimming, and your personal life can consume the majority of your day, it is
a great idea to find the right plan that allows you to get everything done
while also taking care of your mental and physical health.

13
 REPORT:

Being a competitive swimmer myself, and learning to swim from the infant
age of 6, I chose the topic of “Interviewing a swimmer”, as I wanted to
share the obstacles faced and experiences gained by swimmers, whilst
also reinforcing my perspective on this strenuous, yet marvellous discipline.
In this project, I was responsible for contributing towards the ‘About the
Interviewee’, ‘Interview’, and ‘Challenges faced by Swimmers’ sections, by
surfing the web, and gathering snippets of information from various
websites and sources of data, not to mention formatting the document
using various text document and design applications. Moreover, the
principal reason I had chosen to interview Michael Phelps was due to the
conspicuous parallels between William Douglas and himself, regarding how
their personal fears, even though they were vastly different, had
suppressed them from enjoying certain years of their day-to-day life.

We all know how much of a decorated swimmer Michael Phelps is, and
how he had gotten into swimming despite having an early fear of water.
However, what most people don’t know is that Phelps struggled with a lot of
problems outside of the pool. He had alcohol and gambling issues, and his
biggest challenge was his struggle against depression. Phelps’ depression
first started after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after Phelps had achieved his
record-breaking eight gold medals in one Olympic game. After doing
nothing but training for the past four years, Phelps found it difficult to adjust
back to regular life and fell into depression, which kept getting worse, and
worse, after the London Olympics in 2012, as for the past few years, all he
did was the bare minimum to compete as fiercely as he could in the sport.

14
At one point in 2014, the depression became so agonizing that Phelps
began to spend days locked in his own room, contemplating suicide.
However, thankfully, after undergoing two months of rehabilitation, he was
able to turn his life around and focus back on swimming. Thereafter, Phelps
became one of the first athletes to bring publicity and attention to the
struggle against depression, whilst working hard to reduce its stigma, by
sharing his story of depression with the public, serving as an inspiration to
others, mainly athletes, who cope with similar problems.

Through his story, we are able to understand that Micahel Phelps is a

selfless being, who has influenced society in a positive way, while also
persevering through challenges and working hard to achieve his dreams. It
is ideal to possess determination and resilience, as Phelps has
demonstrated through his achievements in the pool, and his dedication
against the struggle of depression.

Furthermore, becoming a world champion in swimming is not an everyday

task. Through years of rigorous and intense training, Phelps had to improve
himself into the incredible swimmer that he has proved to be, as it has been
told that he did not take one day off of training for 5 years in the lead-up to
the Olympics, including Christmas holidays and birthdays, showing his
determined drive to become a better swimmer, with his dedication to
continue training, than to rather enjoy a short break, revealing his strong
perseverance and willingness to work hard.

15
Depression impacted his life greatly, stripping Phelps of his enjoyment of
swimming and his will to live. However, Phelps still persevered through the
depression and stayed focused on his goals, despite the excruciating pain.
He later remarked, “I didn't care how much pain I was in every day in
workouts because I knew it was going to be greater at the end of the day
when I got to the end of the road and I was able to do something that
people thought was absolutely impossible. For me, it was just that
competitive switch”. Thus, we can see that despite the pain from his
depression and desire to quit, Phelps kept persevering and continued to
train hard, as he was motivated by success. His strong mental attitude
shows his willingness to push through the temporary pain and achieve
greater feats and reveals his perseverance through difficult situations.
Eventually, Phelps would recover from depression and return to the
Olympics.

Phelps’ perseverance through depression served as an inspiration for

others who suffer from emotional issues, setting him up as a role model for
thousands of others in need. His determination in the pool as well as his
resiliency in fighting depression shows his formidable tenacity when it
comes to dealing with his personal obstacles and hurdles. Similarly, in the
lesson, “Deep Water”, by William O. Douglas, we can see this very type of
behaviour exhibited by the author. Despite having a crippling fear of water,
which prevented him from enjoying any water-related activities, such as
swimming, fishing and canoeing, William eventually decides to face his
fears and undergoes a plethora of intensive exercises to overcome his
fears and does so after several months. As according to President
Roosevelt, “All we have to fear is fear itself”.

16
Bibliography:

➢ NCERT “Flamingo” English Book for Class 12

➢ “Deep Water” excerpt “Of Men and Mountains” by William Douglas

➢ Internet

➢ Wikipedia

➢ Google

17