The Olympics through the eyes of an athlete's sister

Kirsten Schmitt is the sister of Allison Schmitt, a member of the 2012 Olympic Swim Team

As the Olympic ceremonies draw near, ClickOnDetroit will be your London connection with articles and pictures from family and friends of Olympic athletes.

Preparations for the trip to England are in full effect!  I'm so excited that my whole family will be able to travel to watch my sister Allison compete in the Olympics.  I have never been to London, and I've always wanted to go.  However, the opportunity to see the city is just the icing on the cake.  I'm really looking forward to seeing Allison swim.  It's hard to believe that I will be in the thick of the Olympic excitement in just a few days.

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The crew includes my parents, Gail and Ralph; my brother, Derek (23); and my sisters, Kari (19) and Sara (19).  We'll all be flying to London together on Thursday night, and we'll arrive at Heathrow early on Friday afternoon.  Some of Allison's aunts and uncles will be meeting us in London, bringing the total size of the group to 11.

SLIDESHOW: Olympic Swimmer Allison Schmitt

The support from the community has been incredible.  Everywhere I go, people send luck and good wishes to Allison.  People from our church got together to fill a notebook with messages of encouragement.  All of the notes were touching, but one of my favorites was a letter from a 14-year-old girl who is a swimmer.  She wrote about how much Allison has inspired her, and wished her luck in the Olympics.

I have always known that Allison is a very special person who will achieve great things.  Still, I don't think any of us could have predicted years ago that someday the little girl with a big smile would be competing in her second Olympics.  I remember when Allison had just started swimming, and was having a hard time completing the practices quickly enough.  The coach moved her to a separate lane so she could go at her own pace.  I was in the next lane, and I kept a close eye on Allison because I was worried that she would be discouraged and upset.  I stopped at the edge of the pool and held onto the wall as I waited for Allison to finish her laps.  When her head popped out of the water, I shouldn't have been surprised to see that she was grinning from ear to ear.  Allison quickly moved out of that lane and surpassed us all with her hard work and talent, but I like to tell people that I once beat an Olympic swimmer in the pool!  (Funny how they're not quite as impressed when they hear the whole story...)

See you in London!

Related: The Olympic Zone

About the author:

Kirsten Schmitt is a 25-year-old Canton resident and the sister of Allison Schmitt, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team and a bronze medalist in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.  Kirsten is a proud University of Florida alumna (Go Gators!).  She attended law school at Washington University in St. Louis and is licensed as an attorney in Michigan and Florida.  She enjoys writing, spending time with family, and volunteering with animals.

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