Butterfly swimmer Carlisle Robinson trains in the Gallaudet University pool in preparation for the 2009 Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan, this September. Robinson is one of about 40 student-athletes on the USA Deaflympics squad who balance training for the Games with schoolwork and extracurricular jobs and activities. (Photo by )
A juggling actStudent-athletes pull double-duty while preparing for Gamesby Joshua Weinstock on May 29, 2009 Athletes representing the United States in any Deaflympics event invest years and thousands of dollars for a shot at a medal. For certain members of the USA Deaflympics team training and preparing for the Taipei Games this fall, the stakes are even higher. About 40 athletes on the American squad are high school or college students who must budget their time and focus among training, studying and extracurricular activities or jobs. For some, this juggling act comes naturally. Butterfly swimmer Carlisle Robinson, of Carmel, Ind., says the challenges of being a student and an athlete-in-training aren’t insurmountable. “It just depends on the person’s work ethic and motivation in school and your sport,” she said. “It’s easier to focus on the sport alone during my free time, but with my experience handling school and sports, this shouldn’t be a problem” Robinson knows what it’s like to split her time between the responsibilities of school and work and preparing for the Deaflympics. A third-year student majoring in International Law and minoring in Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, Robinson has been swimming competitively year-round since she was 8. She currently swims for Gallaudet, worked as a notetaker for the university’s Office of Students With Disabilities and will continue this fall as an illustrator/cartoonist for the student newspaper, The Buff and Blue. During the school year, Robinson trains two hours a day, six days a week, and plans to maintain the same workout regime throughout the summer. Robinson’s hard work has not gone unrecognized — she recently was honored by the Gallaudet Athletic Department with the Student-Athlete of the Year Award. Robinson says being on the Gallaudet’s swim team has helped her prepare for the Deaflympics. However, the main challenge, she says, is that the U.S.A. Swim Team’s members are scattered around the country and rarely train together. “It’s tough when the coach or teammates aren’t there to support me for my Deaflympics training,” Robinson said. However, she said, she often swims with another team member who’s also a Gallaudet student. “I’m lucky to have Daniel DiDonna with me, helping each other to prepare for the Deaflympics during the school year,” Robinson said. Not only that, the swimmer isn’t fazed by the pressure because she’s been used to managing her time between swimming and school for more than 10 years. For her, this is just another level of competition with higher stakes and a goal in mind: a Deaflympics medal. Another student-athlete, Chi Ming Pun, of New York City, will be the first Asian player on the USA Deaflympics basketball team this September and also knows what it’s like to juggle academics and athletics. As an undergraduate student at Gallaudet University, Pun has played all four years of his NCAA eligibility and, after the Deaflympics, will return this fall for his fifth and final year as a Computer Information Science major. Pun has been playing basketball since he was 10, and said his best experience as a student-athlete was winning the Most Valuable Player award in three different leagues while growing up in New York City. However, he said, nobody was interested in offering him a basketball scholarship after he graduated from the Lexington School for the Deaf, so he decided to go to Gallaudet University to try out for the basketball team. After gaining a spot on the roster, Pun became a staple on the team. Pun already has some experience on the international stage, having played for the USA in the 2007 Pan-American Games. The team placed second in the tournament with a 5-1 record in round-robin format, falling to 6-0 Venezuela. “Some of my teammates and I still remember that loss, and we will remember that feeling of not winning,” Pun said. “That just helps our motivation to come back and win gold in Taiwan for payback.” After completing the spring semester at Gallaudet, Pun is staying in Washington, D.C., for an internship while training with other players in the area. He said his plan to stay in shape and prepare for the Deaflympics this summer also involves participating in the 29th annual North American Chinese Basketball Association Invitational Tournament (NACBAIT), which took place May 22 to 26. He said juggling training and working at his internship, as well as the overlap between the Deaflympics and the start of the academic year at Gallaudet this September won’t be difficult for him because he has been able to handle school and basketball during the past four years. Missing three weeks of school while in Taiwan is the lone concern Pun has had, he said, an issue he shares with the 40 American student-athletes from Gallaudet and other universities competing in the Deaflympics. The overlap between the Games and most universities’ schedules poses a challenge to the student-athletes who will have to simultaneously adapt to Eastern Time Zone and jump back into the swing of the fall semester. “I’ve been working hard making arrangements with my teachers for next fall and how I can be prepared to catch up with my classmates when I return to Gallaudet,” Pun said. Robinson said she also knows what it feels like. She missed her high school final exams while winning bronze in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2005 Melbourne Games. “I learned that it is not easy to do homework during the Deaflympics because athletes would be busy competing, resting and participating in events,” she said. Her solution: “I'll probably do homework before heading off to Deaflympics or on the plane on the way to and from Taipei so I can focus on being a swimmer for the USA team.” But it isn’t all work and study and no play for the student-athletes in Taipei. There’s more to the Games than perfecting that balancing act, and at least one student-athlete plans to put down his books while off-court — at least, for a bit. “I hope to come back with a rich experience meeting new people, [making] friends and plenty of exchanging clothes with other countries,” Pun said. |
 Butterfly swimmer Carlisle Robinson trains in the Gallaudet University pool in preparation for the 2009 Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan, this September. She is a third-year student at Gallaudet, and has juggled academics and athletics since she was 8. (Photo by )
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