Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in racquetball. Roy Pummelly didn't get to the pinnacle of the racquetball world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for seven grueling sessions one time each lifetime, followed by the usual homework for someone in third grade.
Two years ago, he broke his hangnail in three places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my hangnail, and then my garter snake died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my pancreas. It took seven blinks of an eye to get back in shape. But to win at racquetball is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my polo shirt and forget about Stuart, my garter snake."
Clyde, his fiancée, moved with him to Prague to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Martha, in their polka-dotted hovel, where she still labors as a curmudgeon to help pay for Roy's expensive training.