Columnist John Leicester of The Associated Press wants more attention paid towards the mothers competing in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Of the 298 women competing for the U.S. Olympic team, 10 are mothers. Swimmer Dana Vollmer is one of them.

Vollmer, who entered Tuesday having earned an individual bronze and relay silver, told the AP that she worried about over-extending her newly more flexible joints.

"I played it really cautious," Vollmer said. "Just trying to make sure that everything was really stable before I really cranked on my strokes."

[ARKANSANS IN RIO: Full coverage of 24 in Olympics]

Vollmer gave birth to her son Arlen in March 2015. Her coach Teri McKeever said Vollmer is "probably 10 percent" of the athlete she used to be when she started working out again after her pregnancy.

McKeever said gains and shifts in weight from pregnancy and breastfeeding also disrupt balance and change one's relationship with the water.

"She still had a nice stroke but you go 100 meters and you have to stop," McKeever said. "It's amazing how quickly you lose it."

Leicester wrote: "There's a school of thought which holds that it demeans women to make a big deal of pregnancy. After all, the argument goes, women have babies all the time.

"But few of them, too few, come back to compete at the Olympics."

"I was told that you can never get your body back," Vollmer said. "I wanted to show that you can. I think it will keep women in sports much longer, that you can have family and you can make it work."

"They deserve our applause," Leicester wrote.

Avoiding wildlife

The United States golfers that have decided to participate in the Summer Olympics spoke at a news conference Tuesday and according to Chicago Tribune columnist Teddy Greenstein, they are happy to be in Rio de Janeiro.

Matt Kuchar, who is competing since Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson declined, said he's glad to represent the U.S. in the Olympics

"I secretly had my fingers crossed, hoping guys would pull out," Kuchar told Greenstein. "As a fan of sport, this is a boyhood dream. You think: 'Wouldn't that be amazing to compete in the Olympics? If not in golf, in something.' "

Rickie Fowler isn't planning on messing with the Brazilian widlife on the golf course, which was built on a nature reserve. The course is teeming with animals.

"The capybara, being the largest rodent ... it's a decent-sized animal," Fowler said. "I wouldn't want to get into a fight with it, that's for sure. There are some caimans [alligators] cruising around, and I'm definitely going to stay away from them. Yeah, it's cool. They have done a great job with the golf course, keeping some of the natural habitat. If I was a capybara, I'd love to live at the Olympic course."

Kuchar, Fowler, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson were all asked if they might play it safe to win a medal. Watson, the long-hitting lefty with a reputation of letting it loose on every swing, had the best answer of the four.

"I'm gonna lay up and go for bronze," Watson said.

The Olympic golf competition begins Thursday.

Sports on 08/10/2016