That is exactly what some of the swimmers on the Willow Glen Osprey Aquatics swim team do six days a week. The team practices at the Willow Glen High School pool and whether able bodied or not, each member of the team is treated equally by coaches and teammates.

Alesia Conroy, a 13-year-old Willow Glen resident who attends Carden Day School is a member of the team even though she is missing her foot and a section of leg below the knee. Adopted from Russia, she had to have part of her leg amputated once she came to the United States 11 years ago because "it was growing funny," she says.

She was also born without some fingers and toes.

She started on the summer team and liked it so well she joined the year-round team, her mother Maggie Conroy says.

Her favorite type of swimming is the butterfly stroke and the stroke requiring the most modifications is the breaststroke, she says.

"I have to kick differently in the breast stroke," Conroy says.

Because the most momentum in the breaststroke comes from kicking the feet with both legs, she has a slight disadvantage. She doesn't have balance so she compensates by using her arms, Maggie says.

Alesia says she removes her prosthetic before entering the pool because buying a waterproof artificial limb is too expensive.

Osprey Aquatics head coach Brian Bolster, who founded the team seven years ago, says he accommodates children with special needs by making slight alterations to their workout.

Alesia often wears a swim fin to help her move through the water, while able-bodied swimmers don't have their fins on, he says.

Alesia qualified for the national disabled swim team competition that is held in Minneapolis, Minn., but her mother says they're going to wait until her daughter is older.

"Brian says the kids should wait until they're older to go to nationals so they have something to look forward to," she adds.

Through Bolster's many years working with youth, including the Presentation and Branham high school swim teams, he has learned how to deal with special needs children.

"Trust is very important and I err on the side of caution," says Bolster, who has coached swimming for 12 years.

One time a student experienced bad shoulder pain so instead of making her push herself he made her get out of the swimming pool, he says. It turns out she had a collapsed lung. "Her doctor told her later she could've died if I had her stay in the pool," he says.

He describes himself as a tough disciplinarian who can also be lenient.

Melanie Plott, an eighth-grader at Bret Harte Middle School says Bolster's trusting coaching style is what's kept her going throughout many painful practices and competitions.

During her fifth year on the team, her backstroke had significantly improved but she suffers from Osgood-Schlatter's disease—a painful swelling of the tendons below the knee. The injury occurs in rapidly growing and active adolescents between the age of 11 and 15. It typically lasts about one to two years with the pain and swelling subsiding once the child stops growing.

The 13-year-old was diagnosed with the disease five years ago when she joined the team. She wears a knee brace whenever she's out of the water.

"It's really painful," she admits. "Hopefully next year I'll be able to do a whole practice without stopping."

When the pain is too strong and she's forced to stop practicing, Plott will do core building outside of the water—pushups and sit-ups to strengthen the trunk of her body.

Although swimming is painful for Plott, it is one of the least strenuous sports she can do, she says.

The same is true for Molly and Zachary Selfridge. The siblings both suffer from hemophilia—a disorder that causes the blood not to clot.

Their mother, Amy Selfridge, says they have tried other sports, such as soccer, but she says, "[Those sports] cause too much trauma from running so the bleeding into their joints won't stop." Swimming is a good alternative because it's low impact, she says.

"Zachary needs to do sports or he'd be bouncing off the walls," she says about her 8-year-old son who has aspirations of swimming in the Olympics. "We let them dream. We never say they can't do anything."

Despite the disease, the children are doing well competitively. Zachary is ranked third out of 300 swimmers in Pacific Swim—the local level of competition for Osprey Aquatics.

Another team member Erinn Hoyt, 12, a seventh-grader at Bret Harte Middle School who has cystic fibrosis is also in the top 10 in her age group.

"There are kids who are really sick but I haven't had to be in the hospital like some of them have," says Hoyt, who started swimming when she was 5years old.

Her best stroke is butterfly.

Her mother, Anne Hoyt, says cystic fibrosis is a common genetic disease where the lungs create a thick mucus that attracts bacteria and can cause infections. The lungs can eventually give out.

"Swimming has helped make the lungs strong and improved her lung capacity," Anne says. "The doctor says swimming is good for her."

Anne says the swim team is not only good for her daughter physically, but socially as well. For the past several years her daughter has bonded with her teammates, she says.

Tawni Argent, a seventh-grader at Valley Christian Junior High, who doesn't have any physical complications, says teammates with disabilities "do great."

"Erin works her butt off all the time," Argent says. "Her muscles aren't as strong as everyone else's but she has one of the strongest wills on the team. If the pool is freezing cold she'll still get in and not complain like some of us do. And Alesia knew it would be hard without a leg but she has worked her way up to higher teams."

Osprey Aquatics is divided into teams based on age and skill level, says coach Shannon Mackin. The lowest and youngest team is white, then gold, and the blue group is the senior team of swimmers in junior high and high school. The team's goal is to compete in the nationals, Mackin says.

"I think we have a couple girls that will go to nationals within the next couple years," Mackin says.

But as far as swimmers with disabilities, Bolster says he treats them the same as anyone else.

"I discuss their needs with their parents and the potential dangers," he says. "I'm sympathetic with their needs and I push them like all the other swimmers to accomplish all they can. Every team member sets goals for themselves and learns life lessons like success, disappointment and the value of hard work and perseverance."

For more information about Osprey Aquatics and summer swim lessons, call 408.268.4379 or visit http://www.ospreyaquatics.com.