Personal Narrative: The Decision That Changed My Life

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.

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

Marilyn Bell Di Lascio showed us that even if we aren’t good at something, that doesn’t mean we should give up. Through her story, “The True Story of Lake Ontario”, Marilyn talked about not being a very good swimmer in the beginning, but her determination was what kept her going, which also led her to meet Gus Ryder, her future coach, and join Toronto’s Lakeshore Swimming Club. She also talked about not being able to go to the Olympics. After realizing her skills would not be able to lead her there, she changed her perspective and focused on training for other swimming competitions. Marilyn inspired us to not give up our dreams and that our determination and hard work will pay

Sometimes I find myself wondering why I put in so much effort for this sport. But, then I remember what motivates me most to continue swimming everyday. I love the sport. I love to swim. It has been a part of my life for so long, and I have no idea what I would be doing without it. During the one week in December that I was out of the pool, I realized this fact the most. The girls I get to swim with during high school season are my best friends. And they all motivate me to work harder every single day. Personal goals push me along with team goals. The amazing opportunities and memories this sport has given me are incredible, and that motivates me to reach the next level of swimming. The swimming program is very difficult, and often times my body gets so exhausted that I cannot imagine swimming another lap. But the happiness I feel after every practice, my teammates that are always there to support me, my amazing coaches, and the family like feeling that both my high school team and club team have created makes swimming so fun. This motivates me to never give up on the sport that I have always

I have been swimming since I was six years old. I have gone to practice after practice after practice for the past eleven years. At first, I was on the club team. Then, in 7th grade I could try out for the Oxford High School team and I made it. I loved high school season the most. I loved swimming with the older kids and I loved the feeling of being on a team. Then, with what seemed like a blink of the eye, I was the older kid. I was entering my second to last season and my junior year of high school. I was the captain and the younger kids looked up to me.

The piercing blare of the buzzer penetrated deep within their ears, and with a flash of light, the swimmers dove off their blocks. “The first thing that goes through my head when I dive into the water is to keep pushing myself to the best of my ability,” explained senior D.J. Beebe. “Even if I don't come in first place, I’ll know that I tried my hardest,” added Beebe. The swimmers combined their love for the sport, with each of their talents to create a dominating team. These boys not only used tremendous amounts of physical strength, but mental strength as well. “I keep myself mentally focused by counting each length I swim,” described junior Jarod Morse. “Counting the lengths helps me stay calm, and focused on winning.” It is clear this

Swimming has turned me into a stronger and more confident person. My persistence and relentlessness in swimming will be valuable in the future is valuable to me, and I am confident that my persistence will benefit me, as I take on future responsibilities and

In these event my life has been completely altered. Whether it was through my personality or physical things. I cannot complain about these events because as far as I know, they have changed my life for the better.

With hard-work and determination I was able to return to the State Swim Meet. Swimming helped me realize that I have these traits, and how much they will help me in everyday

Swimming is a competitive sport, but it is also a very fun activity. I also try to get better at swimming every time I do. I try to do more activities to become a better swimmer. Swimming interests me, because I have always loved to be in the water. I have since I was kid. It didn't take me long to learn how to either. Ever since I learned how to swim, I've always wanted to be in pool or ocean. Sometimes, I can't go swimming. The main set back is the weather. It's been raining almost too much lately. Usually the rain is followed by thunder and lightning. You shouldn't be swimming when there's bad weather; it's a safety precaution. I hope to gain that I'm better at swimming. I'm not horrible, but that's always room for improvement. I just would like to improve on a breath stroke and all the other different styles of

I like to swim because I ignore what everyone else is doing and focus on myself. The times of other swimmers and their form compared to mine is not important because what matters to me is that I challenge myself and improve. Because of this, I set a goal for myself, and then take baby steps to reach that goal. An example of this is when I was training to become a certified scuba diver. At first, I was not the best at swimming because I never really learned how to do it properly. I took baby steps to achieving my goal of certification, and it started with learning proper form for the flutter kick. I worked with my instructor and had it done within a day. Then, I moved on to doing the flutter kick with flippers. I did that, and then moved on to doing that with the scuba gear on. This took about two days to get down, but I was able to get certified after I had finished that. This is just an example, and a goal that I am working towards right now in my life is improving the balance of strength in my muscles. The right side of my body is stronger than my left side so I am going swimming at the local YMCA in order to help make my body more balanced. This goal arose from me wanting to challenge myself because when I am swimming, it doesn’t matter what kind of shape I am in, I can still improve upon it. To summarize, swimming is important because it allows me to

As I said in my last paragraph, you may have to go to a 6 AM meet somewhere that is an hour away from where you live. Which means waking up earlier to get there on time. More recently, I went to a meet and only swam one race because my alarm didn’t go off. My coach wasn’t mad. He was happy that I made it for at least one race. You also can’t go to a meet and walk up to you coach to tell them that you can’t do a race because you hate that stroke. I may hate backstroke, but I still do my races. The only way for you to get better at a stroke is to do it and work harder on it so that you can improve. With practices, I go to three practices a week, or maybe more. That is enough to keep you going and for you to keep improving. You can’t just not go to practice when you don’t have a logical reason for not going. You can’t go to just one either, that won’t make you faster or improve your technique at all.

Growing up, my dad always used to brag that my sister and I started learning how to swim the moment we were out of our diapers. Being a former swimming champion, he considered swimming to be just as important as breathing. Since our house was just an hour away from the beach, he would take us there every Saturday and personally teach us the different strokes. In grade school, I joined the swim team and participated in several meets. Midway through high school, I had to give it up because I was having trouble balancing training, academics and my other extra-curricular activities. But I still set goals for myself and went to the school pool every morning to swim laps for at least thirty minutes—a practice that

Who would have thought that one swim meet could spark an interest and love for a sport for years to come? That is my mindset when I look back on that one swim meet. Three years ago, it was my first year of swimming competitively; In February of 2015 I attended my first swim meet. I was very hesitant when signing up because I get anxiety attacks about major events such as: swim meets, presentations, and big tests. Tired of my coach hearing my coach say, “Sign up or I will make you do burpees”, I finally decided to compete in a swim meet. It was one of the most nerve-racking things I have ever done, but, on the contrary, it was one of the smartest things I have ever done. Being my first year of swimming and my first meet, I did not know how to prepare.

Swimming has always been a great part of my life it takes hard work and determinations to get the results one hopes for. Many athletes don’t see swimming as work hard sport but I beg to differ. It takes so much energy, time, sweat and tears to get that first place spot. When there is a meet coming up I always talk to my coach beforehand and find out which events and strokes I should start preparing for. I never get nervous about meets until this one particularly, Alief Elsik High School vs. Cy Fair where I was up to swim butterfly on the 200-medley relay. Butterfly is one of my strongest strokes, but I always felt completely drained after one lap; I was determined to build my endurance.