Dana Vollmer has been successful in her chosen sport - swimming. The 28-year-old athlete's prowess was displayed at the Rio Olympic Games 2016, where she won the silver and bronze medals in the 4x100 freestyle.
These accomplishments may set Vollmer apart from other adults her age, but she also has something in common with mothers and expecting parents out there. Though Vollmer is incredibly grateful for her son, the Olympian swimmer admitted that she experienced pregnancy's downsides as well.
Vollmer, who's now a six-time Olympic medalist, took a rest from competitive swimming in 2013, according to Today. She and her husband, Andy Grant, now have a young son named Arlen, who is nearly two years old.
Vollmer recounted her pregnancy as something that was "way different" than what she expected it to be, The Washington Post reported. She shared how she had to take seven and a half weeks of "miserable" bed rest.
When she was finally able to return to swimming, Vollmer viewed the activity as a reaction to "those emotions and feeling so out of control with what was going on" in her body, the news outlet added. Vollmer ensures that even though she came back to the world of competitive swimming, her son is still her number one priority. Now, swimming is a form of me-time for Vollmer.
"I have tons of super supportive moms I talk to all the time, and they always said you need some alone time for yourself. And that's what swimming became for me," Vollmer shared, as quoted by Today.
Despite hating being on bed rest, Vollmer stressed that being with her son now is totally worth all those struggles. She revealed that she started teaching her child swimming when he was just six months old, hoping to instill her love for swimming to the toddler. Aside from swimming, the young boy and her husband serve as Vollmer's source of pride, especially during those times when they cheer for her whenever she's at the pool.
At the Olympic finals, Vollmer did something incredibly sweet that proved how important her son is to her. Before the competition, she wrote her son's name on her right foot. That was the last thing she saw since it's the leg that she uses to jump to the pool, Today noted.
The simple reason behind Vollmer's act was because she missed Arlen very much that day (the child and his dad weren't able to come to Brazil for the Olympics). But instead of moping around, she used that longing for her son as motivation and empowerment and to make him proud of his mom.
