I came into my second season of swimming with few expectations and a clear mind. My freshman season was awesome. I dropped a ton of time and did outstanding for a ninth grader. The majority of my sophomore season was great. My work ethic was decent and I did all the sets that my swim coach gave me. I swam with one of my good friends, we both were decent swimmers and pushed each other. We were very competitive in the pool and it made us work harder to beat one another. Occasionally, I went to morning practices where we would be in the weight room some days, and in the pool the other days working on basic drills and little things that we don’t have time to work on in afternoon practices. Although I went to some morning practices, I didn’t go to nearly enough. I should’ve been working harder.

Even though I could have been working harder, my season was still all right. I had a great all-city meet, gaining multiple best times and beating a really fast senior in the 200 freestyle. This was a huge confidence booster and I was really proud of myself for how well I swam. As well as getting a personal record in that event, I also qualified for a MISCA cut. MISCA is a super competitive all-state meet that my coach really wanted me to go to. At MISCA I had a pretty bad cold but I still swam my second best time as well as being able to compete in two other relays.
When it came time for conference, I didn’t do quite as well.

It wasn’t anything to do with how I was tapered or the fact that I had worn a fastskin two other times before.
It was all in my head.

I wasn’t confident enough in the work I had put in throughout the season to do well. I remember looking up at my coach, his blue tie with the bright yellow bearcat head stuck out against his navy button down shirt.
“I feel sore, I don’t feel good at all,” I told him. I started to think about being sore. My mind began to create aches and pains that weren’t even there.

“It’s all in your head. Believe in the training that we have been doing all of season,” he replied, centering his ball cap on top of his head.

He was right. It was definitely all in my head.

After warm-up, the meet began. My head was racing and my stomach felt as though it were going to explode.
You need to relax.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wasn’t prepared for the meet.

Looking back, I wish I would’ve listened to his advice and not have thought about my race as hard as I did. I had listened to outside opinions about how I had went my best time at all city and that I wasn’t going to do any better that day. My club coach had fed me this idea that I had already peaked for the season and that my training was ruined. I had doubt in ability to do well and the success of the work I had put in. I wasn’t mentally prepared for my races and I tried to swim them with a different strategy than what I had been using for the whole season. Instead of breathing pretty frequently in my 200, I tried to hold my breath through the majority of my race. This caused me to become super tired and worn out because I wasn’t getting enough oxygen. My muscles ached from lack of oxygen, and I felt like lead. My head pounded with regret and doubts. I gained time in my 200, going a 2:08 when my best time before that was a 2:06, and barely dropped any in my 100 freestyle.

It was a difficult meet and it made me understand how I need to work hard and be confident in myself and my training.

After the swim meet, I went to one of my good friend’s house. We were both fed up with swimming and glad that the season was over. As we sat on her carpet floor in front of her tan couch in her living room, we stuffed our faces with creamy coffee ice cream that we had deprived ourselves of the past three months. After watching t.v. for a while we laid in her room, crying out of frustration in ourselves and our outcome of the season. We were relieved that we didn’t have to show up for three hours of swimming the next day, or for the next nine months.
Nine months later, it is my junior swim season. The attitude I had coming into this season was far greater than the vibe at the end of last season. So determined to do well, I came in training harder than I ever have. I put my all into every workout, I went to all of the six a.m. morning practices, and have done my very best to set a good example for the under classmen on my team. As this season comes to the end, I’m excited to see what happens at conference and I know it will be better than last year.