Advertisement

Toronto-area girl overcomes special needs challenges to become synchronized swimming champion

Photo: Sara Stevens
Photo: Sara Stevens

Whenever Ruby Stevens’ mother walks by her room in their Scarborough home she gets a whiff of chlorine and it makes her smile.

“It’s an endearing quality of Ruby that that smell (of chlorine) permeates her daily life and I think it will always remind me of her,” says Sara Stevens, Ruby’s mother. “It makes me smile.”

Smiles are never to be taken for granted and neither is the role of the swimming pool in Ruby’s life as it has helped her through challenging times. Two years ago, Ruby was struggling to fit in at school and had difficulty focusing on her class work as she dealt with seizures due to epilepsy, as well as Asperger’s Syndrome, ADD, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. At just 10 years-old, Ruby had an emotional breakdown and she talked about killing herself.

“It was very hard for us when Ruby had her breakdown. She was hearing voices in her head that were telling her she was a bad person and that she was worthless. The voices were loud and constant. She was sad, frustrated, and angry all the time,” says Stevens. “As a parent you are supposed to help your children and make things better for them, but when they look at you and tell you they want to kill themselves at 10 years of age just to stop the voices it is heart breaking.

Photo: Amanda Jerome
Photo: Amanda Jerome

“As the doctor got Ruby regulated on medication and the anxiety started to ebb the voices quieted. However, her little body was tired and she was confused, scared, and her confidence was shattered. She could not go to school. She had no desire to play outside but she did want to swim. I was a little nervous at first because what if it made things worse, what if she relapsed? But her instincts were right, she needed her comfort zone, the pool, the water, the place that set her up for success. And little by little she found herself again.”

Ruby started synchronized swimming at the age of two when a family friend asked to coach her. After her breakdown all she wanted was to be back in the pool doing what she loves best. When you ask Ruby where she feels the most confident she replies simply; “in the water.” When you ask her what she loves most about synchronized swimming she’ll say; “the water, just the water.”

The pool and the sport of synchronized swimming has acted as a healing balm on a troubled mind and has lead Ruby, now 12 years old, to become a champion. She holds an Athletes with Disability – C Level 3 National Championship title for synchronized swimming and will be representing Canada this week in Taiwan at an international synchronized swimming symposium.

“This symposium that’s happening in Taiwan is to raise awareness for athletes with disabilities in synchronized swimming and to hopefully one day see them on more national level podiums,” says Stephens. “That’s a goal we’re working towards, the Parapan Am Games, the Paralympics. If Ruby continues at the level that she’s at, because she is a national level champion right now, we’re hoping in her lifetime that she could be in the Paralympics or the Parapan Am Games, which would be amazing. There are so many other athletes out there like her that their talent is hidden, it’s untouched, because this sport for athletes with disabilities isn’t well known, it’s not fostered because synchro for other disabilities is not funded, it’s not supported yet. But the hope is that we can have more of these symposiums and get these athletes together to compete and mentor each other and support each other and get the funding so we can foster them.”

Stevens explains that synchronized swimming athletes need strength, composure, cognitive awareness and creativity to be successful and that competing in this sport has helped her daughter become strong mentally and physically.

“Synchro has been good for Ruby of course for her physically, it has kept her flexible and strong. With her disabilities it is very important to maintain strong gross motor and fine motor control,” she says. “It has also helped with her memory and cognitive functions. She has to learn and memorize routines and figure components and perform them under pressure, which is very difficult for children in general,  but for kids with learning disabilities and anxiety issues this can be extra challenging.”

Photo: Sara Stevens
Photo: Sara Stevens

Ruby says she doesn’t feel any pressure when she competes, she’s calm and collected. Like all synchro athletes, however, she says she’s still learning to master some moves.

“I’d have to say, just for me, the figures,” she says of what she finds most challenging. “I’d have to say Albatros because you have to be on your back and then go into the water from your back and then turn.”

Although there are challenging aspects to the sport, Ruby suggests other kids try it because it’s fun, while her mother hopes more awareness for synchro will encourage other parents to try the sport with their kids.

“I hope this trip (to Taiwan) will inspire other parents to see the potential in their children that is just waiting there to be unleashed,” says Sara. “Whether these kids are specials needs or typical there is always something waiting just below the surface for us to discover. They could be incredible athletes or actors or opera singers. We just have to help them to discover who they are and who they want to be. I would also like for the world to see the incredible talent that lies within these amazing athletes that will be coming together. They have so much potential and given the right support could someday compete at the national level and be seen worldwide.”