My wailing alarm pierces the air. I roll over in bed, holding on to the last bit of warmth from the blanket wrapped around me. My mind shouts, "You can do this," even as my body aches for more sleep. I hear my coaches voice calling, "Time to get up! Time to work hard! Every morning you sleep is a morning your opponents beat you!". My eyelids droop as I eat a Hot Pocket and drink chocolate milk (the breakfast of champions), before I saunter to my car, bag in hand. I scrape ice off my window and shiver as I exhale fog into the cold air. Though it's only fall, the weather does not notice. I pull my ugly fleece lined parka, a must have for morning practice, around me.. As I stare through my windshield at the stars shining in the black sky, I ready myself. This is my last chance to go back to bed. Instead, I start my car and drive, sarcastically grateful for the poor heating my old Volvo provides,. The cold air blasts through the vents keeping me awake. It's just me, the delivery trucks, and a few deer poking out from the trees. I pull into the lonely parking lot and sit, soaking up the last minutes of peace before I wake every cell in my body by plunging into frigid water. As I rub my eyes, I notice how dark my surroundings are: the pool doors are closed, no lights are on, and there are no other cars around me. I quickly grab my phone-maybe I missed the blessed text that says practice has been cancelled. I could go home, crawl into my bed, and gain a few extra minutes of precious shuteye before school. I grin at the thought, turning up the radio's volume. I finally notice the time. It is 2:30 AM. 2:30? How can that be? I have somehow gone all the way through my morning routine 3 hours early. I am both angry and elated. It might be 2 in the morning, but that means I have a full 3 hours of sleep to go. I set my phone alarm (I pray this time it will work correctly), and pull up the hood of my parka, happy that I still have time to sleep.
Beyond the rare glitch when telling time, I love swimming. It has been my haven, my support, my focus and my family in many ways, for as long as I can remember. Even when moving from state to state, it provided me with a sense of normalcy and a source for quickly forming friendships. During high school, I moved to 3 different schools in 3 different states. Swimming was always my safety net. It helped me to meet a welcoming group of people as I moved from a school of 400 to a sea of 4200 students, and then to a school of 1200. Swimmers have a common understanding of early morning workouts, 20 hour weeks in the pool, and long weekends at swim meets, all of which provide for great friendships and fierce loyalty. Even when competing as rivals, we remain true to our friendships. Last year, 7 girls from my USA team competed as rivals for 5 different high schools at the Rhode Island State Meet. Despite the fact that we were competing for different teams, we all supported, cheered, and celebrated each other's wins because of our bond.
Swimming has provided me with a routine and a pattern to my life. I have embraced being an early riser, even in the summer when my classmates sleep. I have learned to manage and balance my schoolwork, knowing that I am obligated to be at the pool every afternoon. The physical activity keeps me in shape, and the workouts provide me with discipline.
Through swimming, I have learned to set goals, work to achieve them and take pride in what I have accomplished. Last year, I set the goals of being all-state, making goal times and qualifying for sectionals. Along the way, I took risks in the pool by learning to swim my races differently and pushing myself to be better. I reaped the rewards by accomplishing my goals. I placed 2nd at the RI state meet, traveled to New York and North Carolina for zones and sectional meets and accomplished my goal times. I have assumed a leadership role this year as the captain of my high school team. I want to help encourage our team as a whole to set goals and work hard to achieve them. I am very excited to teach others what I have learned from swimming.
In the end, every swimmer reaches a point when they question why they do it and whether the sacrifice is worth it. Ultimately, some feel the benefits and rewards do not outweigh the sacrifices that must be made, and so they quit. I too have had many internal battles over the things I miss because of swimming. Repeating lap after lap in the pool is physically hard, emotionally tiring and, at times, mind numbing. But, I believe the lessons I have learned from swimming, including loyalty to friends, a strong work ethic, and an ability to push myself beyond what is possible to accomplish my goals, make all the sacrifices worth it. I have not yet accomplished my ultimate goal, which is to continue to swim competitively through college. I am excited for a new aspect of competition, along with meeting a new group of teammates who are willing to work hard for their goals and believe that determination and perseverance are what it takes to achieve them. Swimming has taught me all of these values, and to always carry a sleeping bag in my car-just in case.
