thebabyperks

Swimming is something I talk about ALL the time and even though I don't swim on a competitive team anymore (just high school), it's become a part of me. This isn't the first time I've talked about swim and it's not about to be my last. We have a huge invitational Saturday in Cape Girardeau in the "Bubble". Our team competed in it last year and I loved it. Also, we've had 2 more snow days, one Tuesday and one today. Pretty much all our swim meets have been cancelled and we've only swam in four or five and the season is almost over (we usually swim around 10-14 I think). At the meet I'm swimming the 200 IM, 500 free and 400 free relay. Everyone is freaking out and trying to figure out what to pack because we have to leave school early tomorrow.

Anyway... now that I've updated you all on my boring life I'll get to the point. In my many hours of swimming countless laps, I've contemplated a lot. These are two of the questions that go through my mind:
" Why don't I just walk out of here? This is pointless."
" Why am I not faster? Am I going to disappoint coach? Does she know that I'm trying?"

Then I realized something to the first one. I always complain about having to go to practice. I never want to get up and go there. We all complain about practice but in the end swimming is my life. Swimming was the only thing that got me out of my depression last year. The months from the end of November to mid February were the only good things from freshman year. Freshman year was a bad time for me and swimming allowed me to bond with people who could make me happy again. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't swim. As much as I complain about how much I don't want to get up and go to practice I've realized I'd just sit at home on the internet for the entire day everyday. I do that enough on my Saturdays, I don't need to do that every day of the week. You guys know that I'm not a social person, swimming is the only thing that really gets me out of the house.

Also, I've met some of my best friends through swim, Savannah and Peyton, along with every girl on the team. We've experienced the best (and worst) things together and in the end it's made us stronger. I've never felt closer to a group of people before. When all the senior girls graduate I'm going to be so upset because this has been such an amazing season and I love every single one of the them.

And then for the second question I ask myself. I know how hard I work and how much dedication I put toward the team and I shouldn't worry if they can see it. I know for myself and I'm 99% sure the coaches and my teammates see it too. As long as I work as hard as I can and give my best at every practice and meet that is all that matters.

To wrap this up, you might say that you hate something but really when you've given so much time into it, you realize it's what you love. Of course this isn't always the case but I've learned that I truly love to swim and wouldn't quite for anything. I want to thank my coaches and my teammates for always being there and supporting me.