Essay on Swimming: Diving and Swimming Career

Submitted By wentywenty
Words: 858
Pages: 4

Diving into the pool when I hear the beep go off is something I wouldn’t change for the world. Knowing that all my hard work is going to pay off in those few seconds I get to spend in the water at a meet is a feeling that gives me the motivation to keep going. Swimming is not only a sport to me; it’s a part of my life. Ever since I blew my first bubbles at age two, the sport has played a huge role in my life, and I’ve become quite remarkable at it. I don’t think I would love it so much if I wasn’t any good, but, obviously, I wasn’t born that way. It took perseverance, hard work, and the pressure from others that has made me so extraordinary. When I was younger, my parents signed me up for all types of sports from soccer to hockey, but the swimming pool was something I couldn’t stay away from. Throughout my swimming career, I have had a lot of success as well as my fair share of failures. There have been times that I wanted to quit, but pushing through those difficult times is what has made me better. For example, when I was thirteen, I swam the 50 free in the relay for the last time before state. When I finished the race, heart beating a million miles per hour, I looked behind me to see the results: 28.89, a state qualifying time. I was caught up in the excitement, but little did I know that the relay was disqualified due to a false start by another teammate, and the time didn’t count. The tears began to flow, but I reminded myself that it wouldn’t do me any good to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I trusted that it was what God had wanted for me, I got in the water and practiced harder than I ever had, and the next year, not only did I qualify in the 50 free, but also in the 200 free. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” You also can’t get better at a sport by just sitting there, and I’ve worked extremely hard to get where I am today. As I said before, swimming is a part of my life. It’s become just another part of my daily routine: go to school, come home, do my homework, and go to swim practice. At every one of those practices I ask myself, what am I working towards? This prevents me from slacking off, and it gives me the rewarding feeling of knowing that I have only gotten better. Yes, it is very tiring and yes, all I want to do is sleep when I’m home, but waking up every morning at 5:00 AM, pushing myself for two hours until I want to throw up, and conquering another tough set is a feeling that I am fortunate enough to experience. It might sound weird, but when my body feels terrible and sore, I am happy. It lets me know that I have given it my all at practice and all of my hard work is going to pay off. My coach Eric always says, “Practice doesn’t make