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Gabriela Osterholz
ENG 1101, 011 Final Draft #3
Dr. Blair
8 December 2014
H2O, 2 Parts Heart, 1 Part Obsession
When one thinks of swimming, they probably think its just playing games and
splashing around in the water. But the “real”, competitive swimming has nothing to do
with that. Being in this sport for 13 years has given me plenty of experience and it is
second nature to me. To me, swimming is life. Swimming is the best sport out there.
Swimmers have the most challenging obstacles to overcome in order to be their best. We
swim 12 months straight, 7-8 times a week, each practice lasting 3 hours, swim a
minimum of 7000 yards each practice, swim a mile under 14 minutes, 50 yards under 24
seconds, 50 or more yards with no breathing, and overall teaches us many values in life.
To become literate in this discourse, the main topics would be the language and lives of
swimmers, the daily practices, and the swim meets and time standards.
Ever since I was a little girl I remember my mom telling me stories of the sport
she loved. She would talk about the times she was the state champion in the 100 meter
breaststroke, talk about the pool at which she swam at, her teammates, the places she
would travel to compete, and showed me pictures and the awards she received at
competitions. After seeing and hearing all this I wanted to give this sport a shot. I was 6
years old when my mom took me to tryout for a year round swim team and from that
point on I knew that it was the sport for me and was what I absolutely fell in love with.
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The atmosphere feels like home to me. It’s a huge swimming facility, having a 50 meter
pool, about 25 lane lines, strong chlorine smell, blue bleachers which surround the pool, 8
diving blocks, 17 ft. deep, 25 yards wide, diving platforms for divers, screaming and
yelling of coaches voice, and water splashes. Our attire is a swimsuit, cap, and goggles.
The strokes are butterfly (fly), backstroke (back), breaststroke (breast), and freestyle
(free). My favorite and my best is breast. This stroke is done by moving your arms and
legs synchronously by making half circular motions with your arms and a circular whip
like motion with your legs. The distances are broken down into sprint (100 yards & less),
mid distance (200 yards-500 yards), and distance (1000+ yards). We count laps by 25’s,
not 1, 2 ,3,….a 50 is 2 laps, 75 is 3 laps, a 100 is 4 laps, and so on. Some fun facts or
things only swimmers know are, “People frequently ask if you are tired because it looks
like you have bags under your eyes. Those are just goggle marks. Literally every muscle
in your body is used during your workout and it. Feels. Amazing.”(Gregg). One morning
I had swim practice before school and when I got to class one of my classmates asked me
what was wrong with my eyes and I had to explain to them that all I had was goggle
marks. Some more are, “When you’re underwater, the rest of the world gets blocked out.
There’s only you, the movement of your body, and the freedom to let your mind wander.
The scent of chlorine never completely leaves your skin. Your cardio is also your
strength training. “Going to the pool” or “going for a swim” means something different to
you than it does to most people.”(Gregg). I always have people asking me why I smell
like chlorine and why my car always smells like chlorine, so it seems as if the smell of
chlorine comes out
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of our pores. The most important one of all is,” Land workouts are great, but there is
nothing quite like the way your body feels after a swim.”(Gregg). All of these perfectly
depict the lives of swimmers.
To be successful in the sport of swimming one must attend each and every
practice. My coach was very tough and strict and she once told us, “Missing 1 practice
will take you 2-3 days to recover and get your training back to normal.” I have missed
practices before and I can tell you, when coming back you will feel sluggish and slow
just because of that one practice you were not there for. I make it a priority to be at every
single practice because I know that it is best for me short term and long term because of
all the goals I have and want to achieve will be met by my hard work and dedication.
Honestly, I have to admit that there have been times where I felt like I was burnt out and
wanted to quit and these times were complete hell because I was just so overwhelmed
mentally and physically and it seemed as if my body needed a break. When I was going
through theses situations I would talk to my coach and she said, “It’s normal to feel this
way and it is a phase that all swimmers go through. You just have to prepare yourself
mentally and tell yourself that you can go through this and that all the time, dedication,
and hard work you have put in until now will definitely payoff when it comes time to
compete and once you have achieved what you wanted you will feel amazing and that
will make you be hungry for even MORE. I believe in you Gabi and I will always be here
for what you need.” Everything she said really made me think and I had a feeling that I
would never quit this sport. Another thing that has a huge role in swimming
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are the practices and the actual sets we do. The week is usually split up in distance
freestyle days, sprint days, stroke days, IM days (individual medley is when all 4 strokes
are practiced), and at least once a week we have what is called a “test set”. Either way, I
know that everyday I should be expecting the hardest practice of my life and with this
being said, I will come to practice with a great attitude and be willing to do everything I
can to complete the practice successfully. I remember that the hardest set of my life was
an IM day and it happened to land on New Years Day. Coach came in saying, “Alright
guys, I have written the hardest practice yet and I have faith and believe in each and
everyone of you that you all will finish and accomplish this.” The main set was 20x400
IM’s with an interval of 5 minutes and 30 seconds. As I read this, I was calculating all the
yardage and time and thought, “ Ok, just the main set is 8000 yards and is over 5 miles,
and we still have to do the pre set and the post set. But this is for my best and I know I
will achieve my goals doing this and will feel amazing when all of this is over.” Sure
enough, I put myself through something extremely challenging but in the end it was more
than worth it.
All the preparation and hard work that is put into the earlier stage of practicing,
then pays off at the last stage, which is competing and attending swim meets. All swim
meets are important, the in season meets are because you can track your progress and
correct what needs to be corrected before the next meet, but the championship meet is the
most important because it is the time us swimmers have the most energy and we are just
ready to go and give it our all. There are different
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championship meets, one is harder than the other to qualify and each one has time
standards that you have to meet. I remember when I was at the state meet in 2012; I was
behind the diving blocks getting ready to swim the 100-yard breaststroke. It was the first
event of the meet, so I knew I had all that energy and adrenaline rush. As I heard the
official say “swimmers take your mark…..go!”, I dove in and sprinted every yard of that
100, making sure my head was in the right position, having good underwaters, and fast
and efficient turns. As I finished and came into the wall, I looked at the scoreboard,
looked at my name, and then looked at my time. It read
1:06:24. I had dropped 4 seconds and most importantly I got the cut and qualified for
senior sectionals. Senior sectionals is a meet that includes the southeastern states of the
US. At that second I looked up to my mom in the stands and she was jumping up and
down showing her excitement. This was a feeling of accomplishment that I had never had
before and it really did feel amazing.
The sport of swimming may take years to master, but is definitely achievable.
This secondary discourse requires knowledge of the language and lives of swimmers, the
daily practices, and the competition. Through these 3 steps, swimming has taught me
values such as responsibility, perseverance, accountability, open mindedness,
determination, and being willing to put in all your effort knowing that you will be
receiving a great feeling in return.
Works Cited
Gregg, Linnea. "37 Things Only Swimmers Know." Thoughtcatalog. Web. 22 Oct.
2014.
Quotations from my coach