Explain What Role Did Your Race Class Or Gender Play In Learning To Swim

When I was five years old, I joined the Carroll Aquatic Swim Team. I stuck with it because I loved being underwater, feeling the refreshing water all over and the sensation of touching the wall, finishing first hearing the people holler. When I got older I just didn’t have much care for it. So, I decided that I wanted to give up. Then, my mom told me that I should finish the season than I could determine, nevertheless, I did as I was told. At my last meet, my mom signed me up to swim the IM which is when you swim all four strokes. I was convinced that I couldn’t do it because I had never done it before. I told my mom that I couldn’t and I would fail, but my friend convinced me that I should do it. She told me that I would only disappoint people if I gave up; consequently, I swam and received first place. In conclusion, I ended up feeling the same exciting feeling as when I was five.

The sport of swimming has probably been the most influential aspects of making me who I am today. Swimming has taught me time management, respect towards others, how to be a good competitor, and given me an unquenchable

My parents tell me that I took to swimming like... a fish takes to water. It is a safe place where I can float free of worries. Driven by passion and dedication, I decided to begin swimming competitively. Competitive swimming requires an intense level of determination and discipline. Forcing myself to get out of my warm bed at 5:30 in the morning to put on a still-slightly-damp swimsuit and stand in 40-degree weather waiting for practice to start. Putting up with limited lane space and irritating swimmers who think they are faster. Making a conscious effort to work on my stroke form, turns, touches, and techniques. The water becomes a whirlpool of injuries, losses, wins, friendships, enemies, and sickness. The water becomes home.

Athletics had not always been a flauntable aspect of my life as they are now. In grades 1-4, I was uncoordinated and far too lanky to produce and store any muscle. I often ponder about what changed in the fifth grade, for I became very agile and have exercised almost every day since the beginning of that year. I did not pick up the sport of swimming until the seventh grade and I cannot imagine myself not swimming, not only as a source of exercise but as a source of pure pleasure.

Honestly ever since I was two years old I have been in water, and learned how to swim at around three. I had not learned anything about swimming in Wheeling High School and I can prove that I did not benefit from the swimming sessions. I had already known survival techniques such as not panicking in water and floating on my back to save energy. I already had common sense of not using drugs because I could drown. I had known that many college students go to Lake Michigan at night and die because they can't see or are drunk. To be honest I knew all of these rules but feel maybe Wheeling high school had re-emphasized all of them. I will try to use these techniques at my pool in Florida and continue to teach others how to swim.

As Black-kids society told us that we were not supposed to be competitive swimmer. No we to relegate ourselves to playing court or field based sport. The Black male swimmer role conflict arising out of my never having mastered any other sport involving a ball, court or field did not arise until a few years ago. The fact that I had a great “2 fly” did not give me any “cred” when it came to my lack of a solid jump shot or my inability to catch the ball at the “50.” This fact was undeniable in high school, where the swim team was white. Swimming on my high school team caused experience a lot of internal conflict. On one side, I would have loved to have friends of my own skin color swim with me, but they all went to public school and I went to private school. However, my private school swim team was much better and faster than the public high school teams my friends were on. So in the end, this simply made me live for and cherish the time I spent every day after school, practicing with all my friends on during DCPR

The journey of competitive swimming started at the age of eight for my local `neighborhood team. I exhibited great potential for the future, for I won nearly all my races. This seemed like the sport

As Black-kids society told us that we were not supposed to be competitive swimmers. The role conflicts arise because we have not mastered sports involving balls, courts or fields. The fact that I had a great “200 fly” did not give me any “credit” when it came to my lack of a solid jump shot or my inability to catch the ball at the “50.” This fact was undeniable in high school, where the swim team was white. Swimming on my high school team caused role strain. On one side, I would have loved to have friends of my own skin color swim with me, but they all went to public school and I went to private school. So in the end, this simply made me cherish the time I spent every day after school, practicing with all my friends during DCPR

When I was five I joined a swim team, District of Columbia Parks and Recreation (DCPR). At that time every swimmer was Black which was an anomaly even in the chocolate city. For all intensive purposes this made up of the team so special. Swimming is a predominantly white sport. It is a rarity to see the 95 plus member team of Black children. Of the hundreds of swim teams in our region, only two were made up of Back swimmers. As Black swimmers, we come in all genders, ages, and sizes, but the one thing we collectively hold in common is the color of our skin. We do not look nor could we begin to replicate, like the stereotypical swimmer, the hipless, silky haired, bird-liked framed white maleness and females that are iconic in the sport. With

I. (Gain attention and interest) I remember joining the high school swim team back in my sophomore year. I remember struggling to catch a breath in between every stroke while simultaneously trying not to breath in any water. To be honest, swimming scared me, but drowning scared me more.

Thesis/main topic – Learning how to swim is essential for being around water, it will help strengthen a person confidence, improve your physical fitness, and provide an area for stress release.

Being tall, lanky, and uncoordinated (and therefore not particularly good at traditional sports), I was signed up for the Wallingford YMCA Dolphin swim team when I was 10 years old. I certainly wasn’t a Michael Phelps, but I definitely found more success in swimming than baseball, soccer, or basketball, so I stuck with it. During the next few years, I continued to improve my technique in all four strokes, and other intricate parts of swimming including starts (dives), turns, and finishes. I eventually became a pretty good swimmer, but retired from my swimming career after 8th grade because it was not offered at our high school. In all honesty, I did not completely miss it because I ran cross country in the fall, and track in the winter and

While everyone else treaded and paddled in the water, I was sent home because I was screaming uncontrollably, holding onto dear life nearly ripping the skin off my swimming instructor. I have never liked being in water. I never went near it. I was even scared of standing on the wooden planks at Pier 39. I was embarrassed when my mother signed me up for swimming lessons again when I was in 8th grade. I was the oldest and the tallest student in the entire group, but I was eager to learn. I took a deep breath and submerged myself into the chlorine-filled water. After three months, I was able to dive and swim in freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly

This paper begins with my own existing knowledge of swimming, followed by questions that I wanted to find out in my research that were answered in my paper. It then gets into my research and what I found out while conducting my senior paper. After that is

Even though it is an inanimate object, it still looks like it’s alive and breathing, providing a sense of protection and pure relaxation. Swimming gives you a complete exercise, and it also calms you by the heat and the waves slowly rising and falling. Swimming has helped me live a fulfilling life because it helps me think clearly and productively. I develop goals better, it helps me see the good in my friends, and it lets me ignore the bad things around me because I am too busy moving my arms. I dearly hope that I will be able to swim as a career and to gain a scholarship from a college; for that hard work is required. Some people, as far as I have seen, have no idea of what hard work truly is, and don’t even know how to provide for themselves. It truly saddens me. Swimming has taught me, in its own way, to just go with the flow in life and to just remember when you have to go hard and when you have to relax. The pool is more than a place to swim; if a person listens closely, it could provide advice and bring happiness and energy to the routine of daily