Notre Dame Prep swimmer Becca Meyers, who was born deaf and is… (Baltimore Sun photo by Gene…)
February 04, 2011|By Katherine Dunn, The Baltimore Sun
Like many young swimmers, Becca Meyers wanted to go to the Olympics.
As recently as in seventh grade, she gave a speech about her Olympic goals. By then, her parents knew she wasn't bound for that level of swimming glory. They just couldn't bring themselves to dash her dreams.
In researching for that speech, Meyers found inspiration when she discovered the story of Terence Parkin, a silver medalist at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Parkin, like Meyers, was born deaf and found his niche in the pool.
"I thought it was really cool that there was another swimmer out there who was deaf and actually went out and won a sliver medal," said Meyers, who is afflicted with Usher Syndrome, which also affects her balance and is gradually claiming her sight. "I thought that was so cool and I could try really hard to do that."
Now a Notre Dame Prep sophomore and a club swimmer with Loyola Blakefield Aquatics, she had her own Olympic-style experience a year later. Not only did she swim in six events at the 2009 Deaflympics in Taiwan, winning bronze in the 800-meter freestyle relay, but she also met Parkin, who dominated in Taiwan as Michael Phelps did in the Beijing Olympics.
The Deaflympics feature all the elements of the Olympic Games — elaborate opening ceremonies, medal ceremonies, mascots — but for Meyers, they also presented something else she had never experienced, the chance to be with other deaf youngsters.
"I finally got to be a part of something that I thought I would never be a part of," Meyers, 16, said. "I like connecting with other people, being part of the deaf community, because I never really knew anyone that was deaf and what they were going through. We could connect over what problems we had."
She stays in touch with friends she met in Taiwan via Facebook and Skype until she sees them again at the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Portugal in August. She also has plans for the 2013 Deaflympics in Greece.
The rest of the time, Meyers moves easily through a hearing world. She received a cochlear implant at 2 and has been able to hear since.
In the pool, however, she can't wear the external device for the implant, so she cannot hear. Watching her on the pool deck, you would never guess she can't hear her friends. She can read their lips and her speech is as normal as theirs thanks to receiving the implant at such an early age.
"One time at a swim meet — it was at zones like four years ago — I was talking to this girl from another team, and I didn't have my ear on. After the meet, she's like, 'Why did the official start you?' and I'm like, 'because I'm deaf.' She was like: 'Seriously? I did not know that, and I've been talking to you all day.' "
Being unable to hear doesn't affect Meyers' swimming, but it does affect her starts. She has to watch for the starter's hand signal, so she can't put her head down to get set and doesn't get that burst off the block, costing her valuable time.
"It's a good half a second, and in swimming, that's huge," Keith Schertle, her coach at Loyola Blakefield Aquatics, said. "Luckily, she swims the longer events. At Villanova [for the National Catholic High School Swimming Championships on Jan. 30], she was trying to make the Speedo Sectional Champions Series and she missed by .32 seconds. That's the start. She knows that's something she has to overcome. If she were not deaf, she would have the times, and that's something she struggles with everywhere she goes."
Meyers swims mostly distance events — 500, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle — because the lost time doesn't hurt as much as it would in shorter races.
At Notre Dame Prep, she is one of the top distance swimmers. While she doesn't mind the limelight of international swimming, she prefers to blend in with her teammates at NDP.
"She really doesn't want the attention," Blazers junior Leigh Musselman said. "She's different, and I don't mean because she's deaf. She tries so hard, and she's a really big team player. She'll swim events that are hard for her. She'll take one for the team."
Meyers finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 free at the national Catholic meet, which NDP won. She's aiming for one more team title Sunday, when the Blazers will try to dethrone eight-time defending champion McDonogh in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference finals at UMBC.
Swimming became Meyers' passion in part because it's the only sport she can manage with her balance problems and vision loss.
When she was little, she played soccer but fell a lot. Her mother decided she should try swimming and put her on a team when she was 6.
"She hit me on the butt, and I went right in the pool," Meyers said with a laugh. "It was [the] 25 meters freestyle, and I got first place. I was like, 'I like this.'"
Soon after, Meyers began swimming with Loyola Blakefield Aquatics.
