What Swimming on My High School Team Taught Me

I have always loved swimming, but it was only in my junior year of high school, when I changed schools, that I decided to start swimming competitively by joining the school’s swim team. This was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. 

At first, I was afraid of having to join a new school and make new friends, and the thought of joining the swim team was extremely daunting. I didn’t know anyone and I was afraid I wasn’t going to be good enough and would just end up embarrassing myself. But for some reason, the morning of the tryouts, I packed my swimsuit “just in case.” I remember feeling conflicted all day as to whether or not I should try out for the team. The quote, “in the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take,” kept playing on repeat in my head. I somehow convinced myself that by the time it was time for the tryouts, I would know whether I wanted to or not. But later that day, an hour before tryouts, I was still super unsure. I decided to go to the library where all the athletes trying out for the sports teams were. I thought that seeing the people who could potentially be my future teammates would help me in making this decision. I found the people trying out for the swim team and I sat with them. I’m not entirely sure why I was there, but something about seeing everyone happy and talking about their last few seasons on the team really calmed me. It was a community of people and I thought that it was great. They seemed so supportive of each other and had been so friendly and welcoming to me — a girl they didn’t know — when I asked to sit with them. And so, an hour later, I ended up trying out for the team. There was a no cut policy so I got in, but I knew I still had a long way to go.

The day of the first team practice I started to doubt myself again. Was I good enough to be here? What if they weren’t paying attention at the tryouts and they now see how slow and unskilled I am in comparison to them? But none of that mattered. Pretty soon, this team became my biggest supporters and from just the first practice I made friends with people I may not have had anything in common with otherwise. I remember that they started cheering me on and not just at the first few practices, but consistently throughout. The team supported each other and cheered each other on. I also made some of my best friends on the swim team. 

The coaches were sweet and encouraging and stayed back to help teach me stuff I didn’t know before. We had practices at 6am and so to help wake us up, our coach would play music on her bluetooth speaker and that really helped boost our spirits. Then came the competitions. I had always known there would be competitions, but I was really freaking out when it was time for me to take part in my first (of undoubtedly many) competitions of the season. The coaches had practice on the weekend to help the team members who wanted extra coaching before the competition. I remember spending over four hours practicing diving on a Sunday morning, but it was all worth it. I remember being so nervous that I had butterflies in my stomach but my training helped me feel a little more prepared. Once I was in the water, not much else mattered because everyone was drowned out. I could still hear the distant cheers of my team and coaches but other than that, it was just me and the water. I love that feeling and so once I was in, it all seemed to go by pretty quickly. I didn’t win anything, but for me just finishing was a huge accomplishment. This was my first competition and I had survived. 

The swim team was not only a place where I made friends or got to swim, it was also where I learnt more about myself. I learnt that I am very resilient. I learnt that when I put my mind to it, I can do pretty much anything. The practices constantly pushed my boundaries but it was during these times that I found will power I didn’t know I had. Towards the end of the season, I had improved my timings, my techniques and my overall confidence. At the last competition of the season, I even won a silver and a bronze medal. It was one of the most amazing days of my life because that’s when I realized that my belief in myself had led me to that moment. There aren’t many things I regret but I know I definitely would have regretted it if I hadn’t shown up for tryouts that day. 

 

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• high school
• swim team
• swimming
• team