I look just like any other swimmer in the water when I don't have my implant or hearing aid on.
I became hearing impaired when I was three, so I can't compare normal hearing and hearing
impairedness because I've never really, I can't remember what it was like to hear normally.
I identify myself as verbal deaf, which means I don't use very much sign language.
I prefer speaking and using hearing devices rather than staying deaf and or using a lot of sign language.
I don't wear my implant at all when I'm in the water, so I can't communicate to my swimming friends
and if they want to communicate to me they have to make sure, or I have to make sure,
that they're looking directly at me and lip reading only works.
I only ever get two out of every three words, which is an average.
You know what I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to try to be a competitive swimmer
and not always know what's going on.
He's a master, he's kind of like a Houdini in terms of his ability to try to piece together
what's going on around him with his little information that he's getting in.
It is frustrating because I feel like I'm disconnected from my team when I don't understand
what they're saying, so it can be frustrating and sometimes upsetting depending on how badly
I'm misinterpreting or not hearing them at all.
When I go underwater it's dead silent, so if you want to get my attention by yelling at me
when I'm in the water you wouldn't, I wouldn't respond.
So the only other option for people that have that level of hearing loss is the cochlear implant.
The cochlear implant is essentially an artificial ear.
The Russian water, you just feel like you're going to go fast when you're in it.
When you get in and you feel the water rushing, you just feel very fast and then you just go.
We train 27 hours a week, 6 days a week.
This seems normal because when you work at that kind of level for a long time it grows on you
and you don't really see how it would be absolutely extraordinary.
What I notice is when I'm not doing dry land or when I'm not swimming because I don't book a workout at the gym
or practice is cancelled, I don't know what to do with my time.
The general sense for most hearing impaired kids is they have to work harder than everybody else
to get at the same place that everyone else is.
It's exhausting for him to go to school all day and try to concentrate and listen and focus.
And then at the end of the day he comes home, he still has homework to do
and then he's got three hours of swimming practice after that.
So that's the hand we've been dealt, that's the hand he's been dealt
and I think he's played it remarkably well.
I'm aware that I'm always going to have problems with my hearing and what I do,
whether it's not just swimming but also life in general.
And I just have to keep going, move along.
Thank you.
