Shivani Kataria was hopeful of being named in the Indian swimming squad for her maiden Olympics, but while waiting for her flight back home to India after competing in the final Asian qualification event in Hong Kong in the first week of July, she could have been forgiven for not having been in the best of moods. Derek Rivers Jersey .The 18-year-old had boldly made a bid for the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle. Though she was competitive in each category, she missed the Olympic qualifying time by significant margins; her timing of 2:10.42 to complete the 200m freestyle was almost 12 seconds off the qualification mark.Yet, the fact that she was the only Indian woman who competed at the 2015 World Championship in Kazan, Russia eventually made it a formality for her name to be approved under the Universality rule alongside Sajan Prakash in the mens division. The call was made to Prakash, who relayed the information to Shivani.I just couldnt believe it, remembers Shivani. I couldnt sleep on the flight back home. I just kept thinking about it.Shivani, who is looking forward to meeting one of her idols Michael Phelps in Rio, would do well to heed the advice of Nisha Millet, the last Indian woman to have competed in the 200m freestyle at the Olympics 16 years ago.The Olympics can be quite overwhelming, especially when you are a teenager, says Millet, who like Shivani, was just 18 when she headed to Sydney for her maiden Olympics, little knowing that a persistent back problem would make it her last. Guys like Abhinav (Bindra) and Leander (Paes) are used to it in their fifth and seventh outing, but the media attention can be quite a lot to deal with. I won my heat with ease, but couldnt make the semi-finals. I attended the opening ceremony, but I skipped the marchpast since the swimming event was one of the first to be held. Yet, I think I allowed the pressure to get to me.Haryana-born Shivani, who, at the age of six, began swimming at the Baba Gang Nath swimming centre in Delhi during a summer camp, is quite self-assured and driven about her immediate goals.I have to record my best time there, says Shivani of Rio. No Indian has ever made the semis. I want to try and be the first.National coach Pradeep Kumar is a bit more cautiously optimistic, while giving a positive appraisal of Shivanis abilities. Shes got a good technique, and her physical fitness levels are good. She gets her body into a good position and shes blessed with a good kick. She can go faster because she can get stronger still, says Kumar, who has been working with Shivani over the past year, which has included her stint in Phuket along with Prakash. Our swimmers naturally have a slightly inferior technique, compared with the rest of the globe. Secondly, our swimmers and coaches need to have greater scientific assessment of the support that they need.Millet jokes that shes always been a bit scared of Shivani, as she is the first woman swimmer who has challenged and overtaken her 14-year-old national record, but adds a valuable advice that she has passed on to someone she says is carrying the torch forward for womens swimming alongside Damini Gowda of Karnataka.Indian swimmers are habituated to training in the evenings, because thats when finals normally take place, says Millet. But in reality, you cannot afford to let your timings drop even by a second, because that can make the difference between qualifying for a semis and not making it. I have advised her to train at half-past four or five in the mornings as well.On her part, Shivani is aware of the?importance of serving as a role model for younger swimmers, especially following an unpleasant personal experience.My state of Haryana hasnt been very supportive of girls in sport, especially swimming. Once somebody important came up to me and said that swimming costumes dont look good on girls. She further said that I shouldnt be swimming for too many years. I didnt like the fact that their thinking is like that, says Shivani. After me, now theyll tell their children to take up the sport. Our state doesnt have a 50m swimming pool, which I want to help build.Rio should be just the beginning, as Kumar and Millet both agree, for someone who will have at least six or eight years ahead of herself at the highest level. Kumar wants university sport in India to emulate the American model, and thinks that India must try and get both Prakash and Shivani to enroll in universities abroad on swimming scholarships.Shivani, who has been working with a psychologist over the past few months, echoes her coachs thoughts about the importance of mental toughness. I think mental fitness is even more important than physical fitness, says Shivani. For most people, it might be a 50-50 ratio, but for me it is more 60-40. If you win the mental battle, then physically you will do what your brain says.It is this mental strength that Shivani Kataria will bank upon to realise not just her goals, but those for a very exclusive club of Indians to have made it to the Olympics, beginning with Arati Saha and Dolly Nazar in 1952, through to Sangeeta Puri, Nisha Millet and Shikha Tandon in the last twenty years.As coach Pradeep Kumar says, If the mind works, everything just falls in place. Derek Rivers Patriots Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Antonio Garcia Womens Jersey .Y. - Free agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off winning the World Series with Boston, reached agreement with the rival New York Yankees on a seven-year contract worth about $153 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday night. http://www.patriotsfanaticstores.com/authentic-derek-rivers-patriots-jersey/ . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. There has never been any question about both Arsenal and Manchester City having style, but the debate over whether they have the substance to be Premier League champions continues to rage.Despite owning the last two Champions League spots in the table, both Arsenal and Manchester City have armed critics with plenty of skepticism over whether either or both can possibly overtake Chelsea by seasons end heading into Sundays crunch clash of these top-four teams at the Etihad.Much of it has to do with the flowing style of play both employ, a direct contrast to the blood-and-thunder mantra of the Premier League. English fans have long favoured the crunching physical tackle and the challenge of 50/50 balls in the air over the one-touch passes designed to open up defences to exploit via through balls.While Arsene Wenger has built up some capital in his two decades on the Arsenal touchline to deflect barbs and criticisms, it is the arrival of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City (10-3-3) that has added fire to this debate throughout the club backrooms and pubs of England.Wenger took to Guardiolas defense ahead of the midweek matches this week, after Guardiola claimed he wasnt a coach for the tackles, so I dont train the tackles after Manchester Citys 3-1 loss at Leicester City. Its not surprising given the two share a kindred spirit in how they construct offencesPep Guardiola, like myself, we are for offensive football. And when you dont win, people question that. And thats as simple as that, the Gunners boss said. Overall, I think what he wanted to say is that he promoted a game that is positive and I agree with him on that. You respect him for that.At first, it looked like Guardiola was every bit the genius tipped by supporters upon his takeover of City from Bayern Munich -- the team stormed out of the gate to win their first 10 matches in all competitions, including their Champions League playoff to enter the group stages.But that swagger has given way to a City side struggling to find its defensive identity as Guardiola tinkers with his backline on a match-to-match basis. As well as a shift in opponents philosophy to simply let the Citizens pass the ball around the middle of the pitch and then dare them to pile drive through two banks of defenders in the final third.Their 2-0 home win over Watford on Wednesday was more persistence than panache -- defender Pablo Zabaleta finished off a nice cross from Kevin De Bruyne in the first half, and David Silva sealed the three points with a goal on 86 minutes as City struck on the counter as Watford threw numbers forward in search of an equaliser.The victory, though, came at a high price as Guardiola lost Ilkay Gundogan to a torn ACL, a season-ending injury that puts a gaping hole in the midfield for both Citys Premier League title hopes as well as their Champions League aspirations come the knockout stages in February.It is so, so difficult for him, its sad for him, were going to miss him a lot, its unlucky, but thats football, Guardiola told the teams official website.Now we need him to feel we are there and wait and come back safe. Hes going to be operated (upon) and be back as soon as possible.Gundogan will be the fourth key regular out for this match for Guardiola. Defender and talisman Vincent Kompany remains sidelined due to injury while forward and top scorer Sergio Aguero and midfielder Fernandinho continue to serve their four and three-match bans, respectively, for their rooles in a brawl at the end of their 3-1 loss to Chelsea on Dec. Deatrich Wise Jr. Patriots Jersey. 3.On the plus side, Yaya Toure has excelled in the midfield since returning to Guardiolas good graces last month. There is still plenty of quality in the attack with De Bruyne, Silva, and Raheem Sterling in the midfield. It will be interesting to see if Guardiola opts for a solo striker approach again after using Nolito atop a 4-1-4-1 formation versus Watford and leaving Kelechi Iheanacho on the bench.You know the reason why he was out in the first part of the season, Guardiola said about Toure. Now he is playing like he can be, like I met him at Barcelona. Theres no doubt about his quality.Wenger is no stranger to the criticisms that come with his style of play, and some seasons they are louder than others given Arsenals fixture in the top four of the table while not winning any Premier League titles since last lifting the trophy in 2004.But the all-too familiar questions were being asked again after a 2-1 defeat at Everton on Wednesday dropped the Gunners (10-4-2) into third -- behind Liverpool on goal difference, one point better than Manchester City and six adrift of rampaging Chelsea.The Toffees took the match to Arsenal in the second half, utilising that physical style of play Arsenal rarely answer. Wenger felt rightly aggrieved by an error by referee Mark Clattenburg that resulted in an Everton corner that led to Ashley Williams eventual match-winner on 86 minutes, but he also noted his team seemed to back down as Everton grew in the ascendancyWe lost the game because I feel we started well and after that maybe we lost a bit of urgency because we were a bit too comfortable and then Everton made it very physical. Overall, I believe that from then on it disturbed our game and we created less flow going forward.We didnt create too many but we had clear-cut chances in the game we didnt take. After that you can be caught away from home on a corner like that.Like Guardiola, Wenger is dealing with some key absences due to injury, most notably central defender Shkodran Mustfai and holding midfielder Santi Carzola. Denny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Per Mertesacker continue to be long-term injury absences. Wenger also again addressed the issue of contract extensions for Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, both of whom have 18 months remaining on their respective deals.You waste your time because these players have 18 months on their contracts and I dont see why there is any urgency in every press conference to have that question, Wenger mused. Maybe you lack a bit of creativity in the newspapers and you always come up with the same subject. I dont see why that should turn up in every press conference.Arsenal took four points in the two games between the teams last season, posting a 2-1 victory at the Emirates and scrambling from a pair of one-goal deficits to forge a 2-2 tie at the Etihad. Olivier Giroud scored in both matches, and Sanchez scored the equaliser in the corresponding fixture. De Bruyne and Aguero netted the two goals for City.The Gunners are unbeaten in their last five (2-3-0) against City but also have just two wins in their last nine trips (2-2-5) to the blue side of Manchester. Arsenal have won 23 of the 38 all-time Premier League matches between the teams, while all six of Citys wins have come since 2006. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' ' 

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