Swim
25 yards, at age 10
At 11, 50 yards
Now at age 18 I am going 1650 yards in one race
An average man can go 3 days without water,
Just try to get me to go one day without getting in the water,
On average I am in the water 3-6 hours a day,
Dreaming of that gold medal and those wonderful goggle lines
Competitive swim tan lines are so cute right?
What about those bruises and cuts from somehow diving right onto the lane line
But the best part
the 5 am practice on Fridays and getting up so you can do weights at 6:30 on saturdays instead of sleeping in
Honestly I swim because of the people
I would have given up when I was 8 if I knew it was going to be this hard
Giving up those school events so I could be in the pool down the hall isn’t the dream for high school
In elementary school you dream of those nights were just hang out with friends
Or where you hang out with anyone in the afternoon after school
Instead I hang out with my greatest homies in the pool for hours while our coach understands the commitment we chose
I spend hours looking at a black line 5-14 feet below me that haunts me
I slam my hand in the lane line feeling like my hand broke but I keep going
I chose this, no one forced me into this
I chose this because of that feeling of looking at the clock and dropping half of a second
Or sometimes when your relay qualifies for state
That feeling is the reason I go all year swimming,
giving up my summer and social events
The feeling of when you make the hard set and you feel like you could anything
The feeling when your coach says Good Job
Or that was a good start
Yes the practices are grueling and I feel like I never have enough air
While my coach makes us work on not breathing
Sure, it sucks at times but today,
Today I am going to win
I am not racing the person to my left or right
I am racing my best time
I am racing to beat the clock
I am racing to go to state
Swimming is seen as an individual sport but without my team
I am nothing
That’s why I swim
For the dry hair, the laughter after the main sets, the horrible jokes,
the wonderful singing to High School Musical while we are supposed to be kicking fast
I swim for me
But I swim for them as well
Being on SMNW swim team and Kansas City Blazers and soon Midland University Swim Team brought me more pride and joy than anyone will ever know
Seeing a swimmer in the water it is inspiring and beautiful
Swimming is technique
Swimming is distance
Swimming is sprinting
Swimming is a family where they have seen you when you literally can’t get out of the water because your muscles can’t take it.
Swimming is a family where they saw you get that time that brought you to tears because you made that time
The Pool is my home no matter how much Chlorine is on me
My joy from swimming is something you will never be able to take from me.