Dakota Luther

I guess you could say I was one of the better swimmers from the beginning. In

fact, I had the genes to back me up. My mom being a former Olympic medalist

surely didnʼt hurt. As I got older and progressed in the sport, I got faster and I

realized that I wanted to be the best. I wanted to win.

This mentality and a lot of hard work has gotten me very far in a fairly short

time. On the outside looking in, one may think that a young kid who has

experienced success so fast hasnʼt had to deal with true set backs and struggled

like most people. That is not true at all. I have had many ups and downs in my

career.

My biggest disappointment came when I was 16 at the 2016 Olympic Team

Trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Realistically I had no shot at making the team. I

was there for the experience and with one goal in mind: to make semifinals in

the 200 Butterfly. In majority of the events contested at trials top sixteen get to

swim again, and then the top eight swim one final time to determine the two

fastest competitors that will represent the US at the Olympics.

When the 200 Butterly came around, I was ready to go, I had nothing to lose.

I was right on my best time, a decent swim on my part. Now it was just time to

wait for the event to finish to see what place I would end up. As the results

scrolled across the screen, my name read sixteenth. I had done it, I had made

semifinals. So many feelings and emotions flooded me all at once. As I looked

across the results again, I began to realize a name was missing, the biggest

name in the entire event. It turned out that the top seed had gotten disqualified

during the race. I was shocked. No matter what, I had to carry on. I took my suit off

and began to warm down. About 15 minutes later when I went to grab my stuff,

my coach came up to me and I knew just by the look on his face that I would

not in fact be swimming in those semifinals that night. The DQ had been

overturned and I was bumped to 17th, .06 of a second from my goal.

As far as disappointments go, I guess you could say that this moment is a

fairly light one, but not for a little girl with a big dream. I remember watching

semifinals with still puffy eyes in my suit from a TV in a back pool in that same

arena. I will never forget that feeling, that deep burning in my soul.

I feel fortunate to say that that is the worst thing to have ever happened to

me, but when I look back at that moment 3 years later it is also one of the best

things to have ever happened to me.

Over the next year, I had the best stretch of training I have ever had. I was so

determined to be better and do better it was almost like I didnʼt even feel pain.

When the next summer came around and it was time to swim at World

Championship Trials that would determine who would represent the US at

World Championships in Budapest, Hungary later in the summer I knew that I

was a completely different person than the year before. With all of the training

and mental preparation under my belt I qualified for my first national team and

booked my ticket to Budapest. In one year I went from 17th to 2nd in the

country. It wasnʼt easy or quick, but with a lot of hard work, some luck, and a

very strong support group I was able to make a dream come true.