by Aya Terakawa at the Japan Olympic trials (April 2012), swimming a national record breaking performance at the 100m backstroke.
Terakawa went on to win bronze at the London 2012 Olympics. The whole world was fussing about 17-year old superstar Missy Franklin, but my eyes were on Terakawa.
She was 27 years old, a full decade older than Franklin.
When Terakawa failed to make the cut for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, I thought that was the end of her. But she made an amazing comeback.
Teenage swimming sensations are a cause for celebration. Swimmers who are closer to thirty than twenty, and yet medal at the Olympics, are a source of inspiration.
