Navy SEAL tough

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My name is Dr. Wendy Borlabi and I am a sport psychologist with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and I am located at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista California (suburb of San Diego).  Two weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to bring several of our Olympic and Olympic hopeful athletes to the Naval base on Coronado Island.  Chief Robert Stella of the SEALs arranged for our athletes to experience the physical and mental toll of SEALs training for a day.  The SEALs (Sea, Air, and Land) take their name from the elements in and from which they operate which is exactly what their training is focused on.  Among the athletes that attended the training were three female BMX riders.  Yes, BMX is an Olympic sport…as of 2008.  Arielle Martin, Alise Post and Brooke Crain are among the top BMX riders in the world.

These ladies are 17-24 years old and are fierce physically and mentally.  They stood tough with the males in the group…in fact they won several of the physical challenges.  In addition, Chief Stella put Brooke Crain in charge for the day because she was the youngest out of the group.  She did a great job keeping herself and the group focused which alone is impressive.  However, for me the most impressive thing about this day was that the male and female BMX rides had the same opportunity but only the female BMX riders signed up.  It makes one wonder, who indeed is the weaker sex?

To read more about the female athletes SEALs experience in their own words, go to   http://www.bmxnews.com/2010/11/team-usa-women-train-with-us-navy-seals/

-Dr. Borlabi

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There are 2 comments on this post. Join the discussion!

mhueter says:

Awesome! Welcome to WomenTalkSports, Dr. Barlobi! LOVE the comment at the end of your post about male/female BMX riders. Totally agree with you.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:13pm EST

robm says:

Touché! Welcome, Dr. Borlabi!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 5:41pm EST

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