Just keep on swimming!” Swimming is an important part of my life. It was the first and only sport I have ever tried. It is amazing being weightless, doing flips and spirals under water, without sinking like a rock. It is similar to track, but just racing in the water instead of on land. Instead of using legs to run, I use my legs to kick. I can kick like a dolphin, snapping my legs up and down together, or out and together, doing breaststroke, or quickly do freestyle kick, up and down. When people ask
“what is your time for 100 yards?” and I respond something like,
“about a minute”, they look at me like I am insane, because that is a slow time for running 100 yards. It is hard to explain how different running is to swimming.
In swimming you are using almost every muscle in your body, while pushing against the water that surrounds you, not just using your legs. In the pool, you can push, pull, or swallow water, but you can’t just run through it as if it is air. One of the reason’s swimming is my favorite sport, because you don’t sweat, you are practically weightless, and you can spend hours and hours with your friends!
On my swim-team, your teammates are your family. You end up bonding through two hour practices, swim-meets so early that even the sun isn’t up yet, and the tenth round of a set that includes four times 200 I.M (Individual Medley). They end up supporting you and cheering you on. When I had my first 500 free (20 laps), it was the last event of a very long day, so I assumed that nobody would show up. Instead, almost the whole team showed up to help lap-count and support me. .
I love swimming because it is amazing to spend tons of time with friends, being weightless, and gliding through the water like a fish. Swimming is my passion, and I definitely don’t want to stop.