Personal Narrative: Swim

It is hard to think that in one instant an entire years’ worth of dedication, hard work, and countless hours of training can come crashing down without a single ounce of control over the situation. I never thought this would be something that happened to me. I am careful, I do not take many risks, I do not engage in any dangerous behavior, and I try not to make any stupid decisions. Apparently in the summer of 2015 none of that mattered and life just decided to throw its biggest curveball of my short 15 years of existence.

At the ripe age of 18, it was my last year swimming. Sadly, it was also my first. The idea to start swimming came from my boyfriend, who had been doing it his whole life. He thought it would allow us to have more quality time together. Even though I started swimming to spend time with him, I grew to really enjoy the sport and I wanted to get better and better each time I hit the water. I ended up getting really good really quickly because the sport came so natural to me. Although it was my first year, I was already competing in the City Meet, and I wanted to do my best because I knew that it would be my last chance to race.

When I look at large groups, the first thing that I have experienced is my swim team when I was in high school. There were many things within our swim team that made it into a large group, a group characterized by the presence of a formal structure that mediates interaction and, consequently, status differentiation, such as the coach was the head of the group, followed with captains, then seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman (Conley 162). The formal structure that we followed was that the coach told everyone what to do and then from that, the captains helped refine the technique within the rest of the subdivisions. Similarly, when looking at the social dynamics, it was very evident who was the coach compared to the swimmers and who were

“Run, run, run!” I yelled to my teammate as we ran on our tippy toes to get to the tents. It was freezing outside, so we bundled up in jackets and blankets as soon as we sat down. I;ve been swimming most of my life, but this was one of my first year round swim meets. I had just swam a 50 free (freestyle) and only had one event lift…..the 500 meter freestyle. I was nervous and I couldn’t eat, so I went to swim on an empty stomach.

This is about the time that I saw what it’s like underwater. One day during summer I went to the pool with my grandma and 2 cousins, Sidney and Trevor. When we got to the pool I changed into my suit and went over to the Leisure Pool to start swimming. I got in the pool and swam around for a little bit until I got bored of being in the water. I wanted to leave.

The skies were clear and the waters were calm when we dove into the warm waters of the Gulf. We should’ve stopped at the surf shop; it would’ve avoided this whole mess. The strong currents are tossing my body around like a rag doll. I’m trying to keep my eyes on Taylor’s bright red hair, because at this point, losing Taylor means I have zero chances of survival, and no friend to work with. The waves finally seem to have calmed down enough for me to swim to the surface to get some much-needed air. I’m looking for a certain redhead, but I can’t find her. I’m starting to panic.

“Hannah hurry up, by the time we get there it will be adult swim” I yelled up stairs.

Success is something that we all strive for. Everyone wants to the best at what they do and no one wants to come in last. A huge accomplishment for one person could be seen as unimpressive to someone else. Swimming is normally unimpressive to many especially if it is high school swimming or a competitive swim team for children. I was thirteen when I had joined my first competitive swim team. It took one summer season to get my hooked and next thing I knew I was swimming all year long. I was never really good and I had never won an event until the summer championships the following year. That meet was the one that allowed me to see that I was capable of more than I had originally thought.

I was able to pull up. the water level was rising to the ceiling, I took another deep breath and was pushed back underwater. I was hit again in the head and don’t have a memory of what happened after that.

The first goal that I have for myself is to improve my 20 minute swim assessment by 150 yards by the end of the semester. The energy system that provides energy for this is the oxidative system. Out of water I need to increase my aerobic exercise and in water I need to practice increasing and maintaining my pace to build endurance. Building my endurance both inside and outside of the pool will help me reach my goal of improving my distance in the twenty minute timed swim.

Riding a battery operated ride on jeep, while holding on to the leash of a dog, is a tremendous way to ramp yourself into a pool. It happened when I was 6 years old, and I thought I was going to be the next great stuntmen like Evel Knievel. On a hot summer 2007 July day where you could smell fresh cut grass and the sun was shining like a new Lonnie from the bank. I was at my grandparents above ground pool at their old house on Shell and Cambie road. It wasn't just those average size rubber above ground pools that you can buy from Walmart. It was a huge hand-built pool that was half the size of a hockey rink that my grandpa had built for the whole family to enjoy, and to get out of the hot summer sun. The pool was about 30ft deep and was connected to a big long deck, almost as long as the red carpet that was

Next time you take your cousin with you to a competition you end up with sadness and then joy(if you work hard enough). It was a Saturday morning. Michael woke up from his bed at 6:00am, my cousin was staying over since the swimmeet was closer. Alex who was really enthusiastic about the swimmeet(his first one by the way) he was jumping all over the place, looking for his goggles. We ate breakfast, Ella, my mom cooked corn beef hash some eggs and pancakes. Robert, my dad who was also really excited about Alex’s first swimmeet. (He used to swim in college and his abs are still in shape by the way). Michael who was the youngest in this mile swim team was extremely nervous. We had to board an airplane that took about 5hrs to land. From Hawaii to California. We stayed in this hotel provided by DACA.

As Jordan, Peyton, Savannah, and I gathered behind the blocks we began to mentally prepare ourselves for the swim ahead of us. Jordan jumped onto the block, waited for the sound to whistle, and then took off with the clock going. Right when Jordan came in Savannah was next to go, then Peyton. Peyton kicked and pulled as hard as she could. I looked up at the clock and then hopped on the block. I jumped off the block as she came in, spinning my arms as fast as they would go. Next thing I know I could see the wall, as I came in I looked up to the score board to see a time of 1.53.79. The state cut was out of our reach for now. It was only the first meet but as swim meets pass we would find ourselves repeating the same

"Kerry! You have to try again. You got this, Come on!", Wendy exclaimed as she tugged on my arm at the edge of the swimming pool. Even though I knew I needed to pass this swim test in order to race at regattas, I also knew there was no way I would pass this fourth time after failing the last three attempts. I dread the taste of chlorine and the weight of the entire pool on my head dragging me down. “Whoo, Good job!”, the girls on my team congratulated yet another teammate that successfully completed the four laps and four minutes of treading. That’s when I realize my teammates’ hard work would go to waste without a coxswain in their boat; my teammates are counting on me. “I’ll go next!”, I boasted before anyone else can come forward. I just

My freshmen year swim season gave me an experience I’ll never forget. It was in the middle of the season, we were swimming against Sauk Centre, a team we usually had close meets with. My goal for the year was to make it to sections in the 100 fly, and I was close. I had been consistently dropping time getting closer and closer to 1:18.00. This meet was the most disappointing meet of the year for me.