Kim Daniel is tall. Slender. Rather quiet and unassuming. But put her behind a bowling ball, and she's a powerhouse.

When she's not helping home buyers and home sellers as a Realtor® with The Home Source Realtors General Brokerage office in Peachtree City, Kim's bowling talents are so impressive that she recently earned first place honors in All Events Scratch among 1500 bowlers participating in a month-long state competition in Augusta. To earn the prestigious first place accolade, she bowled nine no-handicap games over two days for a combined score of 1993 and an average of 221.

Locally, Kim bowls on a team with the Georgia Women's Bowling Association based at Junction Lanes in Newnan, and her Number 1 position among Georgia's women bowlers is the first time the Newnan association has been represented with a state winner in the 50-year history of the organization.

Kim is modest when she describes how in 2003 she qualified to represent Georgia on TEAMUSA, and was among a candidate from each state competing for a spot on this exhibition bowling team for the Olympics, where bowling is under consideration as a future competition. "I can tell you that it makes one weak in the knees with pride when they play the National Anthem," she said.

"Bowling is often a sport of endurance rather than strength," said Kim. "In competitive bowling, it is not unusual to bowl up to12 continuous games. In some tournaments, bowlers rotate from lane to lane continuously for several hours with no breaks."

A native of the Chicago area where bowling is popular as in many cold weather states where winter weather encourages indoor activities, Kim has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the sport. First introduced to bowling by her father when she was in first grade, she didn't resume an interest until high school. Following another lapse of several years, she credits her husband Victor, now her greatest fan, with bringing her back to the sport in 1999.

"Bowling is relaxing and a great social activity, since you meet a lot of people," Kim said."And it's a great stress reliever because you can throw a ball as hard as you want and don't hurt anybody," she added with a laugh.

A look at Kim's bowling equipment attests to her understanding of the sport's technical aspects. For example, the soles of her bowling shoes are interchangeable according to how much slide she desires. Wristbands are calibrated for desired hook and revolutions of the ball. Even the amount of oil on individual boards in the lanes is a consideration, and prior to major tournaments a oil graph is sent to competitors so they can plan their game.

Kim's collection of some 10 bowling balls gives a glimpse of the lighter side of her personality. One bowling ball is scented and actually smells like grapes. Another is bright orange and depicts Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, complete with whimsical face and tail.

"I bowl to have fun," said Kim. "And I try to be a good representative of the sport."

She'll mix some of that fun with skill as she enters the Nationals as an independent bowler at the 78-lane National Bowling Stadium in Reno in May.

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