With Kristen, Elizabeth Pelton, Kaylin Bing, and Sophia Batchelor at PAC-12s, freshman year.
There's nothing like old friends. Here I am in December 2014, reunited with my Regis HS crew: Melanie Higgins, Briana Labrie, Kendall Higgins, Jessica Weed, C. C. Cutler, and Abby Cutler.
My support team in Rio, outside the natatorium: Roy, Darryl, Doug, Mom, Linda, Dad, and Auntie C.J. down in front. I didn’t get to see them during the run of the games, but it meant the world to me that they were there.
Oh my goodness—the sight of all these handwritten notes on pink hearts decorating our front lawn was such a sweet surprise when we got back from Rio after the 2016 Olympic Games. There were hundreds of them!
Author selfie: just back from Rio for a final writing session with our phenomenal collaborator, Daniel Paisner.
After a disappointing Rio, I found strength in scripture. Here’s a social media post I put up to lift my spirits and to remind others to trust in the Lord, no matter what.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I stand on the very broad shoulders of my teammates, my coaches, my trainers, my teachers, my mentors, my ministers, my friends, my family . . . my parents. I am who I am because of them, and I make sure to let them know how special they are to me, at every opportunity. But here I want to give a shout-out to the people who came into my life to help us with this book project—people I don’t always get a chance to thank in such a meaningful way. So here goes . . .
To Mark Ervin and his team at WME-IMG—to have an agent who believes in me as a person just as much as he believes in me as an athlete is something so unique and rare in this world. I knew from the moment we met that you were an even better human being than you were an agent, which is saying so much because you’re the best agent who ever lived. Thank you for taking this wonderful idea for a book about family, faith, and focus and making it a reality.
To Jay Mandel, Mark’s colleague at WME-IMG—thank you for shepherding our story to publication, and for finding the very best publisher to honor our story. You were a strong advocate for our family and made sure to protect the private aspects of our tale until we were ready to share them with readers.
To Karen Linhart, my beautiful publicist—I truly don’t know what I would do without you. You know my own schedule better than I do and find a way to make sure I’m always getting what I need. Let’s also not forget what a fashion icon you are in my life. Work it.
To Jill Schwartzman and all the publishing professionals at Dutton who helped design, edit, and promote this book—I’m so, so grateful for the care you’ve taken with our words and the support you’ve given us on this great journey. The book we’ve written is not exactly the book we imagined together when we started out in this process, and you were with us every step of the way, cheering us on and offering your guidance, experience, and support. In the end, you gifted us with a book that can hopefully light the way for other families with children determined to pursue their own dreams.
To Daniel Paisner, aka Danny Phantom, aka Danny P, aka our fabulous and wonderful coauthor—you are disarmingly handsome, inside and out. We cannot thank you enough for taking our story, our values, and our love for one another and putting it into such elegant and purposeful prose. It is quite an accomplishment to spend as much time with our family as you did and not lose your mind. It was an honor for each one of us to get to work with such an accomplished and talented writer and person.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
* * *
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
Relentless Spirit Page 26