Sophomore Steve Worthy swims the but– terfly during a practice in the Harding pool. Worthy had the opportunity to go to school in Hawaii on a swimming scholarship in 2002. (Photo courtesy of Steve Worthy) 104 /1 people people Time away from the familiar and the death of a friend helped sophomore Steve Worthy appreciate the simple things in life. In the spring of 2002, Worthy received an offer to compete for the)Jruversity of Hawaii in swimming. "1 went to Hawaii to swim for the [University of Hawaii Terrapins,]" Worthy said . "! couldn't pass up being able to swim on the team with a half scholarship waiting for me. I wanted to go to Hawaii and compete in [NCAA] Division [." One of the biggest events that affected Worthy while in Hawaii was the death of a training partner. "We were doing easy-hard 50s, and he passed out underneath the water, and no one knew," Worthy said. "A friend and I went under to get him, and my coach started to give him CPR. I was pumping his chest, but he didn't come to. He died about an hour later." Worthy learned from the life his training partner lived. "It was sad, but it made me learn a lot about life. It made me learn a lot about swimming," Worthy said. "He taught me how swimming isn't everything. He always [said] that there was more to life than swimming. At the time he died, he was not a Christian. That is one thing that I wished I had talked to him abou!." Worthy's swimming, however, continued to progress until Oct. 15,2002, when he tore three ligaments in his ankle in a pick-up game of basketball. "My coach was not too happy because I was out for six weeks," Worthy said. "It took me until December to come back from that, but my coach knew that 1was strong and 1could recover." After recovering from the injury, Worthy continued to swim, but did not live up to his own expectations. "I did not swim well when 1came back," Worthy said. "I just wasn 't fast enough." The lack-luster season and the absence of a spiritual focus began to affect Worthy in a negative way. " It affected me a lot, it was one of the reasons that I came back Ito Harding)." Worthy said. "The church there isn't very strong. It is actually dying. There is a great miss~on field there that is waiting to be harvested." While in Hawaii there were things about Harding that Worthy missed. "I missed the spiritual influence 1had from Knights [social club]," Worthy said. "Being on a team in swimming, yo!J get the team atmosphere and support, but no spiritual support. It played mind games with me a lot." After swimming was over and Worthy had used all of his NCAA eligibility, he decided to come back to Harding. "I came back to Harding because 1wanted to pursue other avenues of my life," he said. Worthy said he remembered Jesus when he swam at Harding and Hawaii. "That is what I think about a lot when I swim - about God and what He gave for us," Worthy said. "You are out there swimming laps and you are in pain and you think, 'This is the greatest pain that I have ever felt,' but then you think about God on the cross, and what His pain was. I think to myself, 'You know what? I can suck it up and do another 20-30 laps or whatever I have to do.'" "It was sad, but it made me learn a lot about life. It made me lear a lot about swinuning." - sophomOrE SteveWorthy
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