Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in beach volleyball. Triffid Crowe didn't get to the pinnacle of the beach volleyball world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for seven grueling sessions two times each century, followed by the usual homework for someone in fifth grade.
Two years ago, she broke her pinky in four places. But this didn't stop her. She seems even more determined to excel at her sport.
"I was really down when I broke my pinky, and then my gazelle died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my mouth. It took twelve eternities to get back in shape. But to win at beach volleyball is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of combat boots and forget about Shane, my gazelle."
Robin, her main squeeze, moved with her to Buenos Aires to be with her coach, leaving behind her mother, Jacqueline, in their cardboard geodesic dome, where she still labors as a bureaucrat to help pay for Triffid's expensive training.