If You Really Knew Me

Apart from the entertainment and joy doing them, they are imperative to my physical health. These sports have made me develop many friends and learn about different cultures. I was a member of a swimming club in my former school; here we travelled many places for competitions. During these competitions, I would try to make as many friends as possible. My choice of friends was always different races from mine, which made it a thrilling experience. I am a social and outgoing person, who always likes to learn about other people. Even though I have earned several titles as an individual in swimming, what I enjoyed most about these sports is the fact that I could meet people from different cultures around the world. Learning about these cultures also played a great role in making me study

Imagine taking one step into a chlorine-filled arena. The humid air rushes onto your skin. An immense smile spreads across your face. This is because you know everything is about to change. In less than 24 hours you will be holding a glistening gold medal in your hand, standing up on the podium while the Star Spangled Banner blares for the whole world to hear and tears will stream down your face. Taking one look back at your coach, Teri McKeever, you realize if it wasn’t for her you would not be here. Graciously, you run up, swing your arms around her body, and embrace her in a powerful hug that says it all. Swimming is a very intense sport and consumes every second of a swimmer’s free time. However, putting in hundreds

People accuse me of being competitive, as if this is bad quality. While it is true, in the generic sense of the word, but to me the only competition that matters is my own performance compared to my past performance while on the line with outstanding shooters. Competition energizes me to improve.

I would be empty without my friends from swimming. I would have nothing to do with my time. My life would be empty and meaningless, they fulfill my need for love and belonging. There is no one in this world who fills my soul like my swim team. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

Ever since I can remember, I have been a competitive person. I would always be upset when I

In this extraordinary book, the world’s most extraordinary distance swimmer writes about her emotional and spiritual need to swim and about the almost mystical act of swimming itself. Lynne Cox trained hard from age nine, working with an Olympic coach, swimming five to twelve miles each day in the Pacific. At age eleven, she swam even when hail made the water “like cold tapioca pudding” and was told she would one day swim the English Channel. Four years later—not yet out of high school—she broke the men’s and women’s world records for the Channel swim. In 1987, she swam the Bering Strait from America to the Soviet Union—a feat that,

I worry about what others think of me, or I have suspicious ideas, or can become paranoid (believe that others are planning to harm me); or experience episodes under stress when I feel that I, other people or the situation is somewhat

“It’s not important to win, it’s important to make the other guy lose!” -Anonymous, To some, life is boring without winning And competitiveness. This is also the what life is like for my sister, Kendi. Kendi is my young but competitive little sister. She is seven years old and loves participating in competition. Competitive is 40 percent of her personality. My little sister Kendi is as competitive as little girls get. I know this because she loves to challenge me to basketball games, she calls herself nicknames, and gets really mad when she loses a card game.

Once I was afraid of bodies of water since I did not know how to swim, now I am in love with any activity that has to do with water. I was raised in the Dominican Republic, a caribbean island, where it is customary to throw one’s child in the deep end of a pool so that their natural instinct of swimming is awakened. I was not the case. My mother pushed me to the water and amazingly enough I did not panic. Instead of panicking, I accepted my fate and sunk down. After about 30 seconds in my cousin dove in a took me out. Once out of the water, I began to panic. Consequently, I began crying, shaking and screaming at my mother for throwing me into the pool. Shortly after that my mother placed me in swimming classes and everything changed.

Ellen DeGeneres once said, “Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come.” I hope that since my first sentence in my essay was an inspirational quote by Ellen DeGeneres, it attracted your attention. If you really knew me, you would know I am lucky to have such an awesome mother, I love playing music, and I like visiting Pittsburgh. I’ve realized that my mother, music, and my favorite city are a part of who I am.

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.

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.

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

Age seems to play a deciding role in most people’s fears, mine included. As time progresses, I normally do not care what other people think of me. I have started the belief that if I am happy, other people’s opinions should not matter. If I know I am trying my best, then that is enough for me. Though sometimes my fear takes over, I am learning to have much more control. I know my limitations and sometimes, yes, I choose to test them; but I will no longer jeopardize my well being and happiness at the expense of others anymore.

This song relates to my past, because when I was younger and first started swimming, I was