– Young athlete and his passion for swimming

By Modesty Hossanah
SOME people are called to dance; others to sing. For Jamaal Skeete, however, his calling lies in the sports arena. The 19-year old dabbles in a number of sports. However, he is most passionate about swimming and has been since he was eight years old. At first his parents pushed him to learn to swim mainly to ensure his survival. Later on he found that the water somehow called to him. The sport fascinated him and engaged his interests greatly.

Thus, he found himself at the pool on many weekends. Unfortunately at 11 years of age, he sustained a terrible injury which temporarily halted his practice of the sport. But soon, he missed the comfort of the water and resumed swimming as soon as he had recovered. In his mid-teens the sport became more than a hobby – Jamaal started swimming competitively.
Jamaal especially relishes the thrill he gets when competing against other swimmers. He relays that there is a certain ecstasy he encounters when racing with worthy competitors. The 19-year-old likes to stay on top of his game and does this by practicing the various strokes whenever he has free time. Jamaal puts in countless hours of training to prepare for races that last 50-seconds or less.

Despite being able to play other sports, he devotes most of his time and energy to swimming – to him it is a full-time commitment. Apart from the mandatory physical preparations, mental preparation leading up to a swim meet is critical to Jamaal’s performance. More so, he insists that tunnel vision and a positive attitude greatly influence his creditable performance. The highlight of his competitions is the freestyle event, which he is spectacular at. The freestyle is the best and fastest of his four swimming strokes.
While others tend to focus solely on academics, he believes that it is important to be well-rounded. After graduating from Queen’s College, Jamaal fully intends to continue swimming. He does not intend to pursue swimming as a career but rather until he feels he has mastered it. For him “swimming is ultimately a lifestyle”.

Unlike most swimmers, Jamaal doesn’t look up to anyone in the swimming arena. Instead he looks forward. According to him, hard work, discipline and determination are fundamentals if one wishes to be the best at what they do. This young man is driven by the need for self-improvement. Just knowing that he’s getting better with each training session is enough to keep him motivated and inspired.

A guiding principle for him is taken from Ray Lewis who says “If tomorrow wasn’t promised to you, what would you give for today?” Jamaal believes that we all have the same 24 hours, but life is about living like there’s no tomorrow. We must always put 100 percent into everything we do. It is this mentality that the young athlete lives and swears by.