When people ask me if I play any sports I tell them I am a swimmer. Generally, they will be confused for a moment and think to themselves, wait did she just say she was a swimmer? Many people expect me to say something typical like that I play soccer or basketball. I am glad that I get to be a part of a not so common sport because although it is one of the toughest and most time-consuming sports, it is also one of the most rewarding. I have been competitive swimming for over eight years on my local swim team consisting of barely a hundred people. I tell people I wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day and they look at me like I am absolutely crazy. Except I know they will never understand why I do it, why I put my body through the most rigorous workouts …show more content…
We support each other and stick up for each other just like any family would. We cheer for one another and provide words of encouragement to get through a hard practice. They are the ones beside me when I am flipping heavy tires across the parking lot and pulling fifteen-pound weights behind me as I swim down the pool. I will never forget all the fun times I have shared with my teammates and best friends, like going to amusement parks, going on hikes, and going on beach trips together. I will never forget all the Saturday morning breakfasts where we spent countless hours in Panera and had “Movie Days,” where we really just napped together. I will also never forget the travel trips I have been on where I experienced my first plane ride or had jam sessions with my team on bus rides home. Swim team friends form a bond that is incomparable to any other sport and they are just a fraction of the reward. Any swimmer will admit that the best feeling in the world is seeing all their hard work pay off. Whether it’s after their race when they see they got the cut they were aiming for or just a personal best time. I have experienced success as well as failure in
I have been swimming year-round on a club team since the age of six and when I was younger improving came relatively easily. However, around age 13, I hit a training plateau despite having the same work ethic and focus that I had previously had. I grew to despise swimming and at points I wanted to quit. However, unlike Junior, I had role models and mentors who were positive influences on me and who helped me to overcome this challenge. Primarily, I had several of my best friends on the team who convinced me to keep persevering and to not simply quit the sport that I loved so much just because I was no longer dropping time. For example, every day I watch my close friends Lizanne and Cate come to practice and give it their all, regardless of the numerous injuries and medical issues that plagued their swimming career; their positive outlook and dedication motivated me to try even harder than I had before. Moreover, I had by parents, something that Junior did not have; my parents were always there to support me after yet another disappointing meet reminding me that “you get five minutes for a win and five minutes for a lost”. My parents where my voice of reason as I tried to work through my issues; they were always there to encourage me, but also were very honest with me
“Being in such an intense sport, surrounded by people in the same boat as me, has really brought me closer to my team. We get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.” They push her to become the best gymnast she can be; she describes her team as a family. They cheer each other on and are the biggest support system to make her better. Being around the same group of people nearly every day through their struggles and successes has really brought the athletes of the Classic closer together.
I spend six days per week for twelve months straight practicing catching, throwing, and hitting a softball. My friends call me crazy when I have to leave their house at ten o’clock on a Friday night to go play in a midnight madness softball tournament. They think I am insane for travelling to away, out-of-state tournaments each weekend. However, ten years of competitive, travel softball and nearly nine hundred games have molded me into the person I am today. Many people do not understand why I spend the majority of my time playing competitive softball, and they fail to recognize that my entire identity is a result of this sport. However, I am aware that I would not be who I am without it.
The very small percentage of athletes that can make a living off of a sport that they love to do, is a very special thing. The phenomenal athletes that can make that happen are role models for children, teens, and some adults. Sports enthusiasts will quote things from the best leaders, motivators and competitors to share with their children, students, colleagues, and fellow athletes. Being a three sport athlete has given me the full experience of being around those tremendous athletes. I thoroughly enjoy playing sports, I have since I was a little boy, and sports are a huge part of my family. At all family gatherings after we eat, have fun outside, we gather around the table or the television to either talk of sports or
You become a family when you are on a team. Some kids their team is the only real family they have and they need it more than anything in the
Swimming has been my whole life, since I jumped into the pool for the very first time. I loved every aspect of swimming from the adrenaline running through my body during my races and getting to spend even more time with my friends and my sister, and the stress of big meets coming up in the schedule. Except everything didn't go according to plan after the first day of school when I got home and I saw my parents sitting by my sister on the coach and my sister was crying.
The typical stereotypes of a student athlete go a little like this: They are only in college to play sports, they don't focus on their grades, they're all on very large scholarships, and their confidence and egos are through the roof. After hearing the images that people associate with student athletes, I've come to realize how much people don't know about athletics. I have been athlete since I was 4 years old playing sports such as football, basketball, baseball, track, wrestling, and a failed attempt at tennis. However, I have never actually taken the time to understand what I learned from playing sports and how it has helped me grow as a person. Dealing With Different People
This identifies me as being an athlete through my physical traits I show to society. A trait that does not portray my personality is arrogant. I do not feel as if I am the best person in the world. This is justified whenever I am socializing with my
I decided to start challenging this belief when I was in my junior year of high school. Before then when people asked, “Do you play football?” or “Why don’t you play?” I used to make up excuses that I was injured or that I was playing another sport. It hurt my self-esteem in school because most of my male friends played football and I did not. My parents also wanted me to play football, so I did not get much support from them.
Finish, Finish, Go, and Go you just set the new world record. Every four years lots of people gather around a pool cheering for Olympians. It is a very noisy place. A lot of Olympians that are part of the summer Olympics are very athletic, they swim all year around. The swimming Olympic history and background is very interesting. They have done so many new things over that past couple of years. They come out with new rules every year to make things more fair and challenging. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for. I was swimming the 200 meter fly I was at a really good time when I had 50 meter sprint left at the end all I could think about was I’m going to set the new world record. Olympic swimming is a very fun sport it is very athletic. Every year in the summer time every one always sits around a TV watching this it is very famous in America. Swimmers from all around the world come and here and compete. There is a lot of competition there I have found out a lot about the history of swimming. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for.
“I won’t remember the wins and losses. That’s great and all, but I think I’ll remember friendships and my teammates.” Melissa Nafzger, a head coach at Spartanburg Community College, says this about her team, and I feel this also relates to my team. I’ve made so many inseparable friendships with my gymnastics teammates over the years, and we have accomplished so many outstanding things together. My teammates have had a considerable impact on my life and have helped me grow in strength, responsibility, as well as friendship and teamwork.
Sports can also serve to all students as a second family to those students who are lacking a family structure at home or a parent role model. During my time in sports, I saw my teammates as brothers and saw my coaches as a second father figure. Don’t get me wrong I have a great home life and I love my family but being a part of a sports team helped me build another relationship with other people that became my second family, it’s something that I will never experience again and it was one of the best moments of my life. I know for some of my teammates the track team or the football team was their only family, they either have family that doesn’t want them or they are working all the time.
The success of a team comes not from the strength and abilities of the individual person, but the capability of the team to work together. Through my medical hardships I was actively involved with my swim team: high school, club, and now the college level. Although I could not participate to the extent I desired, I have always been an avid team member. I contributed to the success of the team by motivating others when I push myself in and out of the pool, cheering when I couldn't race, organizing activities, and tutoring team mates. As I learned through my medical experiences, no doctor knows everything about the human body, and doctors must work as a team to diagnose conditions and contribute to the advancement of the medical field.
Being a part of a team sport shows members commitment and dedication to an activity. It allows the team member to learn commitment not only in team sports, but overall in life as well. Going to practices, games and meetings, and showing dedication to a team that one is part of is vital. Athletes build character through their participation in sports.
Joining the team was one of the best decisions I ever made. They are my second family. I went from being a small girl that was unable to do one proper push-up to becoming the leading female paddler. I was appointed Captain of the women's boat in Nationals, despite being from a different school.