MONROE - Jess Weeden doesn't consider herself a role model, but she does think of herself as an example.
Weeden never lets her hearing impairment hold her back, in sports or in school. She's a member of the Monroe High School swim team, the National Honor Society, the Model United Nations and is involved with the Experimental Aviation Association. Weeden is partially deaf and hears with the use of a hearing aid, and also reads lips.
The 17-year-old senior will have plenty of eyes on her over the next few weeks as she competes in swimming meets at the Deaf-lympics in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Deaf-lympics began in 1924 in France. More than 3,000 athletes will take part in 20 sports that include swimming, basketball, bowling, badminton, wrestling, beach volleyball, football and handball.
Weeden wanted to compete at the event four years ago, when the event was in Australia, but she wasn't fast enough to earn a spot on the American team. She was only 12 at the time, she said, and the other swimmers from the United States were older.
Last summer she competed for a spot on the U.S. team at tryouts in Chicago and her times earned her a place on the team.
She leaves for Taiwan today. She'll spend a week in Los Angeles, where she'll practice with her teammates and tour the University of Southern California, where she might go to college after she graduates next year.
Then she travels to Taiwan, where she could be the Michael Phelps of the games.
"I think I could get third place in a couple of events," Weeden laughed. "I don't want to jinx myself."
During the school year she swam about 20 hours a week and over the past eight weeks she swam four hours every day.
She'll compete in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter breaststroke; the 100 and 200 butterfly; the 200 and 400 I.M.; and the 4x200 and 4x100 relays. She also might compete in the 100 and 200 backstroke.
The opening ceremony for the games is Sept. 5. The swimming meets begin Sept. 7.
More information about the games, and results of the competition, are available at www.2009deaflympics.org.
Weeden never lets her hearing impairment hold her back, in sports or in school. She's a member of the Monroe High School swim team, the National Honor Society, the Model United Nations and is involved with the Experimental Aviation Association. Weeden is partially deaf and hears with the use of a hearing aid, and also reads lips.
The 17-year-old senior will have plenty of eyes on her over the next few weeks as she competes in swimming meets at the Deaf-lympics in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Deaf-lympics began in 1924 in France. More than 3,000 athletes will take part in 20 sports that include swimming, basketball, bowling, badminton, wrestling, beach volleyball, football and handball.
Weeden wanted to compete at the event four years ago, when the event was in Australia, but she wasn't fast enough to earn a spot on the American team. She was only 12 at the time, she said, and the other swimmers from the United States were older.
Last summer she competed for a spot on the U.S. team at tryouts in Chicago and her times earned her a place on the team.
She leaves for Taiwan today. She'll spend a week in Los Angeles, where she'll practice with her teammates and tour the University of Southern California, where she might go to college after she graduates next year.
Then she travels to Taiwan, where she could be the Michael Phelps of the games.
"I think I could get third place in a couple of events," Weeden laughed. "I don't want to jinx myself."
During the school year she swam about 20 hours a week and over the past eight weeks she swam four hours every day.
She'll compete in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter breaststroke; the 100 and 200 butterfly; the 200 and 400 I.M.; and the 4x200 and 4x100 relays. She also might compete in the 100 and 200 backstroke.
The opening ceremony for the games is Sept. 5. The swimming meets begin Sept. 7.
More information about the games, and results of the competition, are available at www.2009deaflympics.org.