CA DCSS Dad Cheers on Daughter at Deaf Olympics in Turkey

Janelle Mora, CA DCSS

Liz Cocker is a great example of perseverance. At just 16 months old, doctors told Liz’s father, California Department of Child Support Services employee Tim Cocker, and mother, Annette Cocker, that Liz was “profoundly deaf” and her ability to talk or read wouldn’t surpass the third-grade level. The doctor went on to say that childhood experiences such as participating in sports would be nearly impossible.

Liz’s parents took the doctor’s words lightly, raising her to challenge expectations. After hearing-aids proved ineffective, she received a cochlear implant surgery at the age of five.

Two years after the successful surgery, she took up competitive swimming. At the age of 12, after five years of winning every race she participated in, she fully immersed herself in the sport, seeking swim coaches and year-round teams.

Liz dove into pools of silence, as implants during that time were not waterproof. For every practice and competition, Liz had to part with the device that placed her on an equal playing field with her competitors. At the beginning of each race, she tilted her head to see the starter signal, which resulted in losing one or two valuable seconds compared to swimmers who could listen for the starting gun.

At 16 years old, Liz got waterproof implants. Although glad to put signal delays behind her, she was most thankful for the motivational boost that came with being able to hear family and friends cheering her on during races.

Just after getting her new implants, she enrolled at Walnutwood High School in 2010. By this time, she was proficient in reading lips and proved to be an important asset to her school swim team, receiving the Varsity Athletic Award & MVP Award, qualifying for sectionals, and winning the CIF San Joaquin Championships all four years.

After three years of swimming for American River College--breaking 100- and 200-fly records several times and selected for the All-American Community College Swimming Team eight times, all while earning High Honors every semester-- Liz earned a spot on the California State University, East Bay swim team.

At Cal State East Bay, Liz broke the U.S. Deaf Swimming League record in the 50-yard freestyle race in a meet last February. Although freestyle is a specific stroke, in a “freestyle race,” swimmers are allowed to swim any stroke style. Most swimmers choose the freestyle stroke, as it is usually a swimmer’s fastest. Liz chose the ferociously difficult butterfly, and the 5-foot-9-inch athlete beat the freestyle record with a completion time of 26.68 seconds, beating the previous record of 26.99 seconds.

“She has those records written out, when it came to the 50-fly, it was like, ‘I’m going to do it.’ Never doubted it,” says Cal State East Bay’s swim coach, Shane Pelton. “The word to describe Liz is driven. When she wants it, she gets it and if it’s in sight, she’s going to achieve it.”

A few weeks after breaking the U.S. Deaf Swimming League record in the 50-yard fly, she received an email from the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf saying she qualified to compete in the 2017 Deaf Olympics Games held in Samsun, Turkey which began on July 18th with 109 countries participating.

At the Deaf Olympics, Liz beat her personal best times in every race and came home clinching the American Deaf Swimming Records for the 50-yard butterfly, 4 x 200 meter Mixed Medley Relay, Women’s Medley Relay, and Women’s Freestyle Relay. With 15 years of competitive swimming under her belt, and breaking records across the globe, Liz looks forward to training for the World Championships in South Africa in 2019, but will first finish her senior year of collegiate swimming at Cal State, East Bay.