Allison Stough is a swimmer. Her favorite event is the backstroke, but she also competes in the freestyle and freestyle relay. In April, she took part in the 2015 Special Olympics at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

“What I call it is you kind of, when you’re under water, you just forget everything,” Stough said. “You’re just there and competing, diving and swimming. You leave problems behind, and that’s why I like it. It’s a getaway for me.”

She began swimming in high school and after taking a few years off, began again this year to get ready for the Special Olympics.

Stough worked with a coach who was also an old teacher of hers. A little tentative about how they would get along, she was quickly relieved.

“She treated me like a person. She treated everyone like they didn’t have a disability. And to me, that’s the most important thing for people to do. She was great, a good coach and really helped me a lot,” Stough said.

Other people who supported her throughout the journey were her parents. Stough said that her family were the most supportive during her swimming and she wouldn’t have been there without their encouragement.

“Dad was helping me train before the Special Olympics, which really helped me a lot to get ready,” said Stough. “Mom was there to listen to me. They both came, two aunts came, my grandma. I didn’t ask them. I didn’t tell them actually. It’s amazing that they were there.”

Along with her family, Stough had another friendly face in the stands when a friend she doesn’t get to see often came to show her support.

“It was so nice of her, she’s the most supporting friend I have,” said Stough. “It’s amazing that she came. She saw my relay and my second race. I had a lot of support that day.”

But her experience on April 18 wasn’t about those in the stands, it was about the people in the pool. This year, because of the amount of people and teams that participated, the normally one-day event became two.

Her first solo event was the the 25-meter freestyle, where she got sixth place.

“I’m not very happy about that,” Stough said.

She waited an hour between events and then competed in the 50-meter backstroke. She earned fourth place in that race before rounding out the night with fifth place in the 25-meter backstroke.

Even with these good finishes, unfortunately Stough didn’t qualify for the state Special Olympics tournament.

“I really wanted gold this year, but I didn’t get one and was disappointed,” Stough said. “I didn’t get to go to state and I was really disappointed, really sad. I heard it was really fun.”

She said that although the competition is fun and good-hearted, she is the opposite. Stough comes from a competitive family, and while people would tell her, “it was your first time, you’re not supposed to win,” she didn’t want to hear it.

As an athlete, you never want to hear that it’s acceptable to lose. Being that competitive, it’s easy to   get   down  about   falling  just short of one’s goals. Stough, however, is looking ahead with the attitude of “next time.”

“I’m still swimming, still learning to dive,” Stough said. “I didn’t get to last time because I wasn’t ready. But diving is something I really want to do. Someone is helping me learn how to dive and I’m much better than I was before.”

Stough didn’t get to dive off of the blocks to start her races, because during her first practice round, she went so deep that the judges and volunteers thought she had knocked into the side of the lines and had gotten hurt.

So, for precautionary reasons, they didn’t allow Stough to dive off of the blocks.

“I was crushed when at regionals they said I couldn’t dive in for my safety,” Stough said. “It made me mad because I didn’t understand why.”

Stough has since had time to reflect. Since realizing it was for her safety, she has been working to practice for next spring.

“I truly don’t think I was ready,” Stough said. “I need more practice to learn to do it.”

She says diving is her new thing now. Although that was a setback, she wants to practice and have someone help teach her to improve.

“It’s a big deal or something, I need permission from my doctor: ‘Yes, you can go off block,’ “ said Stough. “It’s understandable, they don’t want us to get hurt.”

Even with that setback, Stough said that she had much more fun this year with her teammates and fellow athletes.

“It was challenging at first. but have to acclimate to things,” said Stough. “The whole experience has been amazing for me. I’m glad I did it. I know how much I love swimming now.”

To showcase her experience, Stough is working on making a documentary with video and pictures she took. After her mom suggested the idea, Stough said she couldn’t get it out of her head and really liked the idea more and more.

“Maybe it will get people’s attention about Special Olympics. It’s a great cause to give to,” said Stough.

Her favorite thing about competing in Special Olympics was that “it gives people that have disabilities a chance to compete, not be judged by anybody else because they have similar disability.”

“That’s why I like special Olympics, you can be yourself and not be judged. No one judges you by the way you look/compete,” Stough said. “No matter how you do, it’s okay. You win no matter what.”

Before being an athlete, Stough said she only donated to the cause. But once she hangs up her suit and has dried off from the pool, she wants to stay connected with the organization.

“When I’m done competing, I’d like to get more involved,” she said. “It’s a great cause to contribute to. I’m thankful for people to donate money. You don’t know what it means to people, people like me.”