2008 Gateway Young Achiever

Teen tries for 2012 Olympic Games berth

Mary Ann McCain's selection as a 2008 Gateway Young Achiever certainly has been reconfirmed in recent months. So far this year, she's skipped a whole grade in school and launched a 4-year quest for a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games.

Since the YA award ceremony last spring, the 14-year-old from Ballwin has been able to test out of 8th grade because of her academic achievement. She's been living on her own in Indianapolis since last spring while training for the Olympics.

Recently, she has been named to the National Olympic Training Team. That's made up young people who practice full-time in a bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Last school year, Mary Ann was a 7th grader at Parkway Southwest Middle School. This year, she's taking her freshman classes from the Indiana University High School.

She's up every morning at 5:45 a.m. in order to get in her school work before diving practice starts. The 6-hour practice sessions include everything from yoga, Pilates and ballet to dry-land and water tumbling and diving workouts. Her diving workouts are from everything from the 1-meter to 10-meter boards.

Mary Ann said that adapting to living alone in Indianapolis "hasn't been as hard as most people would think."

For one thing, Mary Ann said, "I'm a Missouri Synod Lutheran. A Lutheran school principal is housing me and I study at his school each day before practice."

Also, she said, "My computer has video chat. My Mom can take her computer to school so I could see and talk to all of my friends at lunch time."

Besides, Mary Ann said the Olympic chance is worth it. "Not many 14-year-olds get a chance to train with Olympians and travel the world," she said.

She's now training with four divers who competed in the recent Beijing Olympics. One of the divers, Thomas Finchum, went to the Indianapolis Lutheran school where Mary Ann now studies.

She has traveled to a Junior Olympic competition in Canada. But, one of her world travels didn't involve sports.

"Recently, I went by myself to Matsumoto, Japan, to play in a 10-piano Suzuki concert. I was there for three weeks and I stayed in a Japanese home," she said.

"Something I've always had is my piano playing. I've been playing since I was three," she said.

"For my Young Achiever photo, I wore a dress I wore at the concert in Japan," she said.

But, she's been active in plenty of other things as well. In school here, she played volleyball and competed on the cross-country team. She was also involved in Girl Scouts for eight years and went to five summer camps.

At Parkway Southwest Middle, she was president of the Student Council and the Yearbook Committee. She also was in the Chamber Orchestra, YMCA Youth Orchestra and All-District Orchestra, playing the viola.

She also was named physical fitness and math student of the year. In German class, she was student of the month twice.

"And I'd never got B grade in school from 1st through 7th grade," she said.

For her school work this year, she's taking English 1, biology, world history and health as on-line correspondence classes.

"I'm also taking Latin 1 and Algebra 1. They are paper courses. That means I have to do my work and then mail it into the teacher," she said.

"I'm taking Latin to expand my vocabulary for the SAT and ACT tests and for if I want to go into medicine," Mary Ann said.

She said she always been able work fast on her academics. "I figured out that at the rate I'm going, I could graduate from high school when I'm 17," she added.

That might work out just right. That means she might have graduated by the time of the 2012 Olympics.

Concerning college, she said she hopes her diving experience will earn her a scholarship. She's in the right state for a swimming scholarship with both Indiana and Purdue known for their swimming programs.

She said she'd like to go to a school that's within easy driving distance from her family.

But, she added, "If I do go somewhere that is far away, I'll want to go to either Stanford or Princeton." Both of those schools have outstanding swimming programs.

For a career, she said she wants to "go into medicine, being some kind of a doctor or an orthodontist."

"I love health and the human body. All of the different parts and functions are enticing," she said.

But, for the next four years, she's got a goal of being an Olympic diver.

In her room, she has a poster on the wall that features three quotes:

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"

"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."

"The difference between try and triumph is a little umph."