It was late 2015 when I started to swim for a team, and back then I didn’t think much of it. After all, it was just another sport I was trying, and I planned to have fun. Little did I know, though, that this was going to be much more than that. This would be the sport I would continue with for the next 9 years of my life, and this would also be the sport I fell very much in love with.
When I started to learn the complete basics of swimming at the age of four, way before joining the team, I was terrified of the water. Terrified. Whenever I would go to the beach or a pool, I would just climb up my dad’s leg, frightened. It wasn’t until I finally started to be brave and step foot into the water that my fear of this kind of stuff vanished, and after roughly a year of lessons, I joined the Greater Lowell Barracuda swim team. The first practices were rough, and I was very behind compared to the rest of the swimmers in my group. My lessons only taught me how to tread water and float on my back, so I had to learn all the new strokes as well. I practiced hard and well, and although I may not have been the fastest in my group, I made some major improvements.
The first meet rolled around, and boy was I nervous. Nervous might be an understatement, because I was trying to make up every excuse possible not to go. The meet was located at Danvers YMCA, a 25-yard pool with some windows to one side and the spectators’ bleachers right across from them, as well as a couple of bleachers in front of the pool. That was where we (the team) were situated for the meet, and I was swimming two events that day: the 25-yard Freestyle and the 25-yard Backstroke. My nervousness grew to such an extreme as my event came closer that I started to scream to my parents not to make me swim. Coach Christina pulled me over, and told me I had got this and there was nothing to worry about. All I had to do was just swim and nothing else.
Race time. I don’t know what I was thinking before, during, and even after that race. All I could remember was a cold rush as I entered the water, and joyous feeling the moment I exited the water. It’s that grin the widest you’ve ever seen. It was so much fun, and although I may have come dead last, my love for swimming was through the roof. My parents were very proud of me, as they thought I wouldn’t have been able to finish because of my behavior before the race. The 25-yard backstroke after that one was a breeze, and this meet was when I realized I wanted to do this all my life.
Fast-forwards a couple of years to when I was 12, and I had qualified for many championships over the years and my swimming skills had vastly improved. But that wasn’t going to be enough if I wanted to become even better, so I set myself a goal to break a team record. Specifically, the 50-yard breaststroke record. It wasn’t going to be easy, I knew, but it was possible, and so I set out to do it. Practice after practice, meet after meet I would swim breaststroke, trying to improve. The coaches would always give me tips to help me improve, but one coach in particular was very instrumental in my practices: Coach Craig. He would always push me each practice and give me important technique tips after my races. After many attempts to beat the record, it ended up coming down to the final meet of the season; the New England Championships. This was my last chance to break that record, and the time to beat was 35.5. I step up onto the blocks, the starter says “Take your mark,” and then the buzzer goes off. BEEP.
The water hits me cold and hard. I’m swimming for my life with only one thought in my head: please let me get this record. I kick and pull, down the 25-yard pool, as hard as I possibly can. I slam my hands against the wall turn as fast as I can, and swim even harder down. The clock is ticking, and I am so close to the finish. I touch the pad with such force that I thought I was going to break it, and then I look up at the board. There next to my name, was the time 34.69. I had done it. I finally beat it after months of dedication, and both Coach Craig and my parents were insanely proud of me. As it also turned out, I came second place in that race among all the swimmers who swam in the event, so my first medal was earned. This was the meet that changed my swimming career, and in a good way too.
March 9 and 10, 2024. New England Solo Gold. That was probably my best meet ever, and not just because I had made some best times, but because I was a champion in this meet. This was a preliminary/finals meet, and you had to come top eight to make it into the A final, and then the next eight would be in the B final. For three out of the five events I swam, I qualified for the A final and the other two for the B final. I made the best times in all my events, as well as earned a gold medal in one of them; the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10:03 in the finals. I made so much improvement this meet, and it is all thanks to my parents and my coaches’ dedication. My parents would always encourage me to go to practice, monitor my eating, and show concern with any issues I have. My coaches would always pay attention to my swimming, give helpful improvement tips, and they too would show concern to any issues I had regarding swimming. They both were very instrumental in my swimming improvement, and that was shown here in this meet. It is because of all of our dedication that I am where I am as a swimmer today.