Thank You, Chatham-Kent
Maddy Lavoie at home in Chatham-Kent
My life has always revolved around sports and I am so happy that I got to share my experiences with my community. Swimming has taught me many life skills, such as time management, determination, and goal setting. Swimming has also opened up many doors for me, one of them being attending University in the States. Being involved in sports is life changing and I will always stand by that.
This is my last article writing for CKSN and I want to say thank you. Thank you to my community for being a part of my sophomore year at Delta State University and taking on this journey with me. Thank you for the endless support to help me through this experience and to help me reach my goals. We have such a great community that supports each other. I am so proud to be a part of Chatham-Kent and be a part of a community that stands behind one another.
COVID-19 has made a great impact on the lives of athletes. It has caused athletes to make a change to their training programs as training facilities are now closed. Athletes have to be more creative on how they train at home in order to keep in the best of shape for their sport. No athlete has to give up on their dream or their goals because of COVID-19. All we have to do is the change the way we get to these goals. My training has changed immensely because I cannot even get in the pool to train. I still have my goals in sight and have made alterations to what I am doing in training. I have been given the opportunity to try new things within my training that I wouldn’t have thought of to do before. I have now included yoga into my work-outs to work on my flexibility and I have found swim- specific dry land exercises that I can do to improve my stroke in the water. I have not accepted defeat, but rather took this as a challenge to become a better athlete than I was. I encourage all athletes to become better than they were yesterday. Reflect on the areas that can be improved and what you can work on while training facilities are closed.
COVID-19 has also given me the opportunity to put my University studies into action. Due to COVID-19, I came home early and finished my semester online. I am currently majoring in exercise science, with a double minor in allied health and nutrition. With my allied health minor, I have began studying on keeping training areas safe for athletes to prevent sickness and injuries. When I came home, I got a job at Seacliff Manor and I am working there to help keep all of the residents healthy. I was able to have an opportunity to help my community and put my studies to use. I am so thankful for everyone in our community for doing their part in the fight against COVID-19. Thank you to the front line and essential workers who are putting themselves at risk. Thank you to everyone staying at home to help stop the spread of the virus. We are all working together to keep our community safe. We can get through this together and Chatham- Kent continues to fight as one.
“Alone, we can do so little; together we can do so much” Hellen Keller