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Mary Killman
2012 Olympian -- Synchronized Swimming
A little about me...
It was where I learned how to swim the four strokes (Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle) and get to the other end as quickly as possible. I did everything I could to strive for the same speed and technique as the older kids that I would practice with almost every day. Sonny taught me that technique was everything. "Get the technique and the speed will come" was one of his favorite lines to say.
A few years down the road I found myself swimming with the Dallas Elite Aquatics (then known as the Garland Aqua Racers) and began making faster and faster time cuts. After making my first TAGS (Texas Age Group Swimming) cut, I knew I wanted to go to the Olympics. It was a whole other level, and I was super excited to get started. Coach Robert Coleman even swam the events that I had qualified in. Fully clothed too! Talk about some serious effort, and good photo ops.
When I was 11, a friend of mine named Claire Evans joined this crazy thing called Synchronized Swimming. I hadn't any idea what she was talking about, but after going to see a competition of hers, I was hooked. There was water, there was dancing, there was music! It looked like something that the average person couldn't do...I love a challenge. That day, I signed up for the Pirouettes of Texas in Irving, Texas for a sport I know and love to do now.
A few years down the road I found myself swimming with the Dallas Elite Aquatics (then known as the Garland Aqua Racers) and began making faster and faster time cuts. After making my first TAGS (Texas Age Group Swimming) cut, I knew I wanted to go to the Olympics. It was a whole other level, and I was super excited to get started. Coach Robert Coleman even swam the events that I had qualified in. Fully clothed too! Talk about some serious effort, and good photo ops.
When I was 11, a friend of mine named Claire Evans joined this crazy thing called Synchronized Swimming. I hadn't any idea what she was talking about, but after going to see a competition of hers, I was hooked. There was water, there was dancing, there was music! It looked like something that the average person couldn't do...I love a challenge. That day, I signed up for the Pirouettes of Texas in Irving, Texas for a sport I know and love to do now.
For 4 years I did both Swimming and Synchro. It was a good thing I was home schooled, or I wouldn't have had the time to put what I needed to into both sports. After winning my first National title, and qualifying for my first National Team in Synchro at age 14, I made the decision to devote myself full time, and move to California to swim for the Santa Clara Aquamaids under the coaching of Chris Carver, a 3 time Olympic Head Coach.
When people say their parents are their support system, they mean it. My parents moved with me to California where I trained for the next 5 years, and have done more than I could ever ask for! With drastic improvement, I made each National Team I tried out for, eventually making it to the 1st National Team in 2009. I've been named to a National Team 6 out of the 10 years I've been training, and because of that I was named to the 2012 Olympic Team! What an honor to be able to represent your country at such a level. Mariya and I worked very hard to place 11th at the 2012 London Olympic Games, and I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to show what the two of us could do. It had it's ups and downs, but the journey will never be comparable to anything else.
I now live in St. Charles Missouri, where I am a student at Lindenwood University majoring in Business Administration. While becoming a full time student, I'm still going to continue to train Synchronized Swimming with the team here, and who knows, maybe 2016 in Brazil is in my future! Thanks to everyone who supports me in my life everyday! I'm so lucky to have the friends and family who support me at all times. Everyone needs a support system as strong and loving as mine!
When people say their parents are their support system, they mean it. My parents moved with me to California where I trained for the next 5 years, and have done more than I could ever ask for! With drastic improvement, I made each National Team I tried out for, eventually making it to the 1st National Team in 2009. I've been named to a National Team 6 out of the 10 years I've been training, and because of that I was named to the 2012 Olympic Team! What an honor to be able to represent your country at such a level. Mariya and I worked very hard to place 11th at the 2012 London Olympic Games, and I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to show what the two of us could do. It had it's ups and downs, but the journey will never be comparable to anything else.
I now live in St. Charles Missouri, where I am a student at Lindenwood University majoring in Business Administration. While becoming a full time student, I'm still going to continue to train Synchronized Swimming with the team here, and who knows, maybe 2016 in Brazil is in my future! Thanks to everyone who supports me in my life everyday! I'm so lucky to have the friends and family who support me at all times. Everyone needs a support system as strong and loving as mine!
Fun Facts
Where you can ask questions and I'll answer them!
Favorite Country (other than the US)
Synchro has made me a world traveler, but I am biased to the first place I went: Italy.
What is one cool thing about yourself?
I am a registered member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation! I'm proud of my Native American Heritage
(Bonus Fact: Jim Thorpe was Potawatomi!)
Favorite Book?
I will forever and for always be a Harry Potter fan.
Favorite Color?
Red!
If you were to call yourself one thing, what would it be?
Honestly? I'm a Daddy's Girl.
Do you have any weird talents?
I compete without a noseclip!
Where did you go to School?
I now attend Lindenwood University, but before college I was home-schooled. Don't let anyone tell you different, I liked it.
Do you have a Favorite Animal?
I have an odd obsession with White Tigers. They're so majestic!
I was born in Ada, Oklahoma but even after traveling all over the Nation and the Globe, I still call McKinney, Texas my hometown. I have two older brothers, James and John, but they didn't live with me as I'm 15 years behind the youngest, so I grew up as an only child.
My mom nearly drowned when she was 8, and was determined that no child of hers was ever going to have such a scare. Luckily for her she didn't have to worry, and I took to the water at a young age. I began swimming competitively at 5 years old with the Tinker Sharks at the YMCA in Midwest City, Oklahoma with Sonny Garcia. It was there that I learned how to feel the water.
My mom nearly drowned when she was 8, and was determined that no child of hers was ever going to have such a scare. Luckily for her she didn't have to worry, and I took to the water at a young age. I began swimming competitively at 5 years old with the Tinker Sharks at the YMCA in Midwest City, Oklahoma with Sonny Garcia. It was there that I learned how to feel the water.
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