People have asked me why I really swim. Here is what came immediately to mind when I began to write.
"There is this feeling I get when I walk on to a pool
deck. Something I have never felt before at the dance studio, on the basketball
court or on the soccer field. I see water, just water, the cool blue water. One
of the best feelings is diving under the surface of the water and sinking deep
down into the pool. You jump in and bubbles surround you. You are being
transported down into another dimension.
This isn’t something you can experience at the beach. When you dive
under, what do you hear? Do you know? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. After diving
in under the water you are in complete silence. You are in your own world. It’s
a way to escape the business and reality of the world we live in. Beneath the
surface I don’t have to worry about my schoolwork or problems. I am at peace.
That is why I swim.
When I am on the
block getting ready to race, I have a thousand different things going through
my head. I am running through my race: fish kick, streamline, do this stroke,
beat the girl next to me, go fast, drop time. On the block I’m pumped.
Adrenaline is running rampant throughout my body. I’m pumped yet a little
nervous at the same time. Then I hear the official, “Take your mark….”and then
the “BEEP!” I think to myself, “GO!!!!” And I’m off. I lunge off the block into
the water. I have my one moment of peace and I focus. Then it is go time. My
mind is blank. I feel like Missy Franklin winning a gold medal at the Olympics
for those two minutes or less that I am racing in the water. After, I am
fatigued and exhausted, but you can’t beat the feeling. Even though I’m out of
breath, I know I did all I could do. I pushed myself to my limit and worked as
hard as I could. This is why I swim."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiF3_nKKuHd2zizH_wpUhxVwbeuwb-SyCCUKu4N_w1JLowDDQEyj4OIlYNK0xTVCydUn_ZyCQyUFgQRvHwR60WNNqKUlx9QeWh2PiaqqG9a4bJeqiQq6U2qiqsYD9nKEixXG_KW4vpAKmj/s320/RiptidePool_Sept30-2011_2.jpg)
This piece of writing is from an essay that we had assigned in class. I have edited it further now but the feeling of jumping down into the water and feeling the bubbles rush up and hearing absolute silence is truly the first reason why I swim. The second, has to be the fact that I like to race. Im definitely not the most competitive person, but I still love it. It demonstrates to me that all my hard work will be rewarded. Lastly, I love swimming with all of my friends. They are people that I can trust, mess around, and be life long friends with even when Im grown. I spend more time with them and my coach than I do my family at times. I love my team! GO RIPTIDES!