Hard Work and Hard Times

All that hard work has helped. She started winning medals at age 10. At 11 she was in the country's top 10 for her age group in the butterfly stroke. At 12 she was selected for a development swimming camp with the national team and was picked to swim in the Oceania Games in Samoa against swimmers from other countries.

She says, "My dad always said, 'Success comes with hard work. It doesn't just land in your lap.'"

Monica learned that is true for swimming, and she found out it's also true in life when her father died unexpectedly a few months after her 11th birthday.

"I was very close to my dad," Monica says. "He started me in swimming. He took me to all my practices and competitions. When he died, I felt like I had no one to talk to."