Swimming :)

Swimming is a great sport and has had a huge impact on my life thus far. First of all, it has equipped me with some fine abs, and let me tell you, that’s a definite confidence booster. Swimming is a great way to get in shape. Back in the day, before my hair smelled of chlorine and I was constantly wet and hungry, I was a scrawny little kid with about three pounds of muscle on me. Fast forward four and a half years and not only can I swim a 200 meter butterfly in 2 minutes and 53 seconds, but I have changed mentally to an incredible degree.

Before I was a swimmer, I really didn’t know who I was. I had no defining characteristics, no unique personality traits. I was pretty much whoever my best friend at the time was. I didn’t really have a passion. I loved music, but that was nothing compared to the passion I have for swimming. I can barely make it through ten minutes without something swimming related crossing my mind. I admit, I’m a little obsessive. I mean honestly, I can look at a math problem and be like “Hmm, without the variables, that problem has the same numbers as my best time in the 500 free, only flipped.” It can be a little pathetic at times, but I love it, and it’s what keeps me going.

During heavy training is the worst time of year for the obsession. It’s kind of strange actually. By that point in the season, swimming is no longer what I would call fun. It’s not torture, but it definitely isn’t fun. Practices are harder, and longer, and I can be sore for an entire week from one workout. I’m constantly having to stop myself from falling asleep in class and am cramming food down my throat whenever I get the chance. I dread morning practices, and am ready for Sunday (the one day of the week I don’t have practice) by Tuesday. And yet, somehow, I convince myself to keep going to practice, to keep working hard.

Honestly, I don’t really know what drives me to keep going to practice at that point in the season. It’s hard, and it hurts, but it’s worth it in the end. I just tell myself, “just wait till the end of the season. It will pay off.” And it does. Nothing is more satisfying than swimming a personal best time by seven seconds in March and seeing all the hard work pay off. 

In the meantime however, it is definitely a struggle. There are some tough practices, and some days I question why I am in the pool. Swimming is a sport that takes extreme dedication, and it has taught me so much about just sticking with it. Last year I didn’t miss a single practice the entire short course season (August to March). That’s approximately 222 practices. Let me tell you, getting up at four in the morning once a week for morning practice isn’t fun, but it makes you feel good. Three times last year I was the only one to show up to morning practice. I was the only one standing out there in a swim suit at five a.m. in 40 degree weather, and the only one to dive in and swim. But being the only one in the water those mornings, I also knew I was the only one improving right then.

 

And that is what swimming is all about: improvement and doing your best. Swimming is a sport that has shown me that hard work pays off and that fighting through the tough stuff is worth it in the end. I have grown so much as a person in the short time I have been swimming. I am more confident, more hard working, and most of all, I believe that anything is possible if you are willing to work for it.

~Nora~