Mark Gangloff is on the Fitter and Faster Tour which showcases swimming present and past stars in an envrionment which he describes is "much like a swimming fantasy camp." He is coming to Raleigh, NC where I coach, so [iX3]sports exchanged emails with Mark to get more detail on the tour, his involvement, and learn when he first dreamed his Olympic dream as a young swimmer.

Through [iX3]sports, I have been fortunate to have connected with a number of very inspirational, engaging people who have successfully integrated their minds, their bodies, and most importantly, their spirits in pursuit of their dreams. Ruben Gonzalez, "The Lugeman," is right at the top of that list. At 21 years old, Ruben decided that he was going to go to the Olympics. Not only did he decide he was going to the Olympics, he was going to represent the United States in the luge. At the time Ruben lived in Houston, Texas and had never seen a luge sled or track in person, in his life. But that was his dream.

Four years later, Ruben competed in the Calgary Winter Games luge competition. He subsequently made two other Olympic teams, the most recent being the Salt Lake City Winter Games at 39 years old. Ruben is currently seeking to make his fourth United States Olympic luge team for the upcoming 2010 Games. Ruben took time away from his training and speaking engagements to talk about dreams and what is necessary to make dreams real.