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| August 19, 2005
Swimming Competitor BY ELIZABETH STEWART
Lucy says that the term “little people” is most commonly used and does not cause offense; her father, Judd Williams, says he believes the phrase is on its way out, and makes the point that those who are marginalized often take back pejoratives and use them with pride. According to Williams, his daughter introduces herself with: “Hi, I’m Lucy Williams and I’m a dwarf.” Recently returned from both the IVth Dwarf World Games in France, where she won 11 medals, and the People to People Sports Ambassador Program in Australia, where—competing against the average sized—she did not win anything but respect, the Mill Valley native and St. Ignatius High School student was recently rousted out of bed to meet the Sun. In her family’s art-filled living room, she hopped onto the couch and tried to wake up. Lucy has lightly freckled creamy skin, brown eyes and dark auburn curls escaping from a hastily done ponytail. Here’s what she said about her summer: “In France about 200 little people came from all over the world to play a variety of sports; you did not have to be an expert, the point was to go, make friends and have fun. They had soccer, swimming, table tennis, badminton, bocci, volleyball and other stuff. I participated in almost all of them. It was four days replete with sports. I’m really big on spirit ’cause I swam for the Strawberry Seals and the coach Mehrad (Zerrapharvar) teaches that it’s not about winning, it’s about doing your personal best. I really agree with that and one thing I agree even more about is the cheer. He made every single person cheer. It really helps. I grew up with ‘Okay, I’m not fast, I’m going to go for my personal best.’ I’m never going to look at the scoreboard and say ‘Oh, I got last.’ I’ve accepted that: I get last. I have my own title: The Person Who Gets Last. So I will make sure that each and every person will have someone at the end of the lane screaming their name. In France I screamed so much I actually lost my voice by the third day. It’s all about making other people feel good. “I got 11 medals in France. They’re just medals. What’s the big deal? Shot put is the one I’m most proud of because I did not train at all. I was with so many people who are little people and that is like my favorite thing in the entire world, because there are no other little people around. I have two younger sisters who are taller, skinnier, prettier—but I love them to death. I always wanted an older brother just because all the cool kids had older brothers, but I realize that my sisters do the job, because if one of their friends would call me a midget or something, they would personally take them out. “I’ve gotten in fights for standing up for myself—frankly, those have been completely unfair. I’m really known for using my fists when people insult me. I could a) ignore them; b) use my words; or c) if it gets too bad I do use my fists. What really bugs me the most is when people say ‘Don’t use your fists, use your words.’ Well, guess what, I did use my words and it didn’t help...I’m just asking for someone to shake this person up. It’s so not fair. “I’ve been asked if I would rather be an average size person, and I would have to say no, because what I’ve been through has taught me a lot about life. You can’t judge people and you can’t discriminate against people ever. I’ve been around average-sized people my entire life and it has given me knowledge of both. What bugs me and really makes me mad is someone saying ‘Oh, I know what you’re going through.’ Dwarf kids have it the worst. I was a dwarf kid once, so I know. Once you realize ‘I’m different’ that’s the time your life changes, when you notice that everyone is staring and laughing and pointing. People are like, ‘That never happens.’ Well, that’s wrong. Over time, because I’ve been stared at, laughed at, pointed at—the list goes on—I have learned to judge people. Because I’ve been judged. I can walk down the street, look at someone and know what they’re like. I can see if they’re spoiled. It makes me mad if people whose parents get divorced use it to try to get sympathy, because that is nothing compared to some of the serious problems of the world, the sorrows of other people. “It’s my dream to play American football for a year on my school team. For fun. I just want to be someone on the line. I want to have my own jersey and run out of the stadium and have the crowd go wild. Unfortunately, number one, it’s real competitive; number two, there are a lot of guys; and number three, I’m a girl and a little person. Yea, things could go horribly wrong, but I want that experience. But I’m not allowed anyway because my Dad says absolutely not. “There’s a chance if I really train, I could be on the Paralympic Team, the disability Olympics; this upcoming year I’m going to be training every single day and go for it. In Australia I had an interesting experience which I hope you don’t mind if I share with you. It was the 100m freestyle and I got to the halfway point as everybody else was done. I had just been saying to myself ‘this is my best, this is my sprint, even if I’m going to end up last.’ But I could still hear cheering and I realized they were cheering for me! And if the crowd is cheering for you, you gotta give them what they want, so I went faster. When I got out of the pool, I was tired. But what was nice was that everybody, and I mean the entire stadium, was cheering my name! I think that’s something I will always remember.” Photo: Lucy Williams won 11 medals at the IVth Dwarf World Games in France this summer. |
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Lucy Williams, 15, is a typical teenager in all ways but two. She sleeps all morning during summer vacation, likes nothing better than to hang out with her buddies, and is snarky to her Dad. She is saving for a car. Although she knows it sounds greedy, when she becomes adult she would like to be wealthy so that she can make her kid’s dreams come true. She wants to be cool. She loves sports of all kinds, especially swimming, and picks up a new game so fast that she can lose badly her first try at it, yet teach herself quickly enough to medal the following day. So how does Lucy differ from your average teenage jock? She has wisdom beyond her years. And she is four feet tall. |
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