The water is wide

By Rick Walter

Fife Free Press
rwalter@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: November 06, 2008

Of course she is a Pisces.

Nakayla Chan was born 17 years ago last March, and she was born to swim.

When she was only 2 years old, her Aunt Anita presented her with swim lessons for her birthday. Her mother Tracy, who was not a swimmer (but who perhaps knew something about zodiac symbolism), obliged, bundling her up and driving her from their house in Milton down to the Fife Swim Center. At age 5 the young Nakayla joined the Marahna Swim Club, which later merged with the South Sound Titans. By the time she was 8, she was already a seasoned competitor at the King County Aquatic Center.

At 12 she joined the Tacoma Swim Club, where she has been a member for the past five years.

But it is at Fife High School swimming for the Trojans where she has earned recognition. Swimming for the high school team as a ninth-grader, she finished second in the state in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 10th grade she won the 500 and took second place in the 200-freestyle. As a junior last year she won both the 200 individual medley and the 500-freestyle.

Now, 15 years after dipping her little feet in the pool right next door to where she currently takes English, science, math and physical education, she is a senior and is hoping to finish her high school career with at least one or more first-place medals at the state championships, scheduled Nov. 15 at the Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

But there are some things that are much bigger than that.

Every time Nakayla swims she is carrying a little bit more weight than anyone else in the pool. Her father has been told he is terminally ill with cancer.

Every Tuesday morning, about 4 a.m., Nakayla wakes up, gets dressed and leaves her house in the dark for swim practice at the University of Puget Sound’s pool. She will practice for 90 minutes with her teammates from the Tacoma Swim Club. Then she will shower, get dressed again and go to school. After school she will practice with her high school team in the afternoon, then the club team again in the evening. This is the routine every Tuesday and Thursday. Other days of the week, it might just be an evening practice. All told, she practices about 30 hours a week. Then there are the meets.

“It’s demanding,” she said one morning at the pool during a break. “But you really can’t take much time off if you are a competitive swimmer.”

Her dedication has led to a trunk full of medals and – some exciting news here – a scholarship to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas where she will swim next year. Her hard work in school has led to a 3.7 grade point average. Her achievements deserve the boisterous cheers she gets at the moment when she hits the finish line at the end of a race. But now that moment slides by, like the sudden shifting of light and shadow, and all her thoughts are on her father – how powerfully she feels his love and courage, having fueled her every stroke during a race.

“I will never meet anyone as strong as my dad,” she said.

“I would do anything for him to get well.”

Her father, Tony, was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. After multiple operations, he was cancer free for four months. Then the illness returned, and the family was told it was terminal.

“I don’t really talk about this because I don’t want any attention. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” Nakayla said.

“But so many people have been there for me. I know I couldn’t do this alone. There are 30 people I would have to name who have reached out. I never would have made it through – you know some of those times when I just had a hard time, and I didn’t know what was going on.”

With Tracy often logging as many as 500 miles a week driving Tony to medical treatments, often in Seattle, and working a fulltime job, one of those people who have stepped up to help is her coach Jo Bushnell.

“She’s been like a second mom. She’s always there. When my mother has to drive my father to his dialysis treatments or things like that, she (Jo) would drive me wherever I needed to go,” said Nakayla.

“The support I’ve had has been astonishing.”

The zodiacal sign of Pisces is composed of two fish arranged parallel to one another but facing in different directions: the left hand fish represents the beginning of a new life cycle, while the fish that faces to the right points in the direction of evolution – the way out of a cycle. It could not be more symbolic of what is taking place in Nakayla’s life. Even while dealing with the difficult emotions of her father’s illness, she has taken on the big decision of where she will attend college with an assertive, but careful and deliberative approach.

She was impressed with the seriousness of the way the team officials and her future teammates approached the visit.

“I did a whole chart, and visited other schools, but it wasn’t even close. UNLV was a perfect fit,” says Nakayla.

She was told about the school by a teammate from the Tacoma Swim Club who is currently on the UNLV roster.

One coach familiar with the UNLV swimming program said it is known for recruiting a very particular kind of young athlete. It is trying to break into the top 25 programs in the country. It is looking for swimmers with character who are serious about wanting to work and improve, who are not just great athletes but great team players.

Nakayla sensed the same vibe when she visited, and will sign a letter of intent later this month.

But on Nov. 15, Nakayla will be swimming for Fife High School for the last time. She will be in her element – a roped off lane of water, with swimmers thrashing on either flank – and hopefully, behind her. Winning a state championship is the greatest desire – and the most rare accomplishment – of any high-school athlete. This year, Nakayla will carry some extra weight, but she will also feel an indescribable power buoying her.

“Sometimes when I am swimming and get a little tired, or if I am feeling some pain, I just think about my father and the huge amount of pain he has had to deal with and everything he has ever been through. He’s my hero. He gets me through it.”

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