Walking into one of the school's swimming pools for the first time and blankly staring off into the water was a moment which refined my lifestyle. I Initially began to question why I had been there in the first place, when in reality, deep down, I knew what I was trying to accomplish: beat my sister at a race. She had a year’s worth of experience more than me. The process seemed like an ordeal and I was ready to stop for air to avoid swallowing water, but I was never going to stop trying to swim forward.
Having a swimming class in school seemed unorthodox, at least in a New York City public school. Nonetheless, such class prompted struggles in the water that I had not anticipated. Being in the water was a seemingly easy task, but once in the deep end of the pool, I quickly grabbed onto the skimmer line and dreadingly pulled myself over to the shallow side; I was too embarrassed to cry out for help. When other kids approached me and said, “I didn’t know you could already swim on the deep side!” I instantly began to daydream about swimming next to Michael Phelps at the next
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The strict competition began when Mr. Stewart, the swimming coach, acknowledged my ability. The middle school competitive swim team, otherwise known as Champs, held practices before and after school, which had become my usual hangout spot. “When you can feel the strain in your thighs, that's when you know that the magic is starting to happen!” Stewart would tell us in reference to our legs getting sore. The pain on the side of my abdomen was constant but less painful as practices went by daily. I almost felt as if chlorine was rushing through my veins alongside blood. Despite my pride, I received looks of ridicule and sneers from passing students when exiting the pool, showing disgust from the chlorine odor I was omitting. This did not matter to me because I knew I was improving at what I loved the most:
Imagine swimming in the big Olympic pools. All you can hear is the muffled noises of ecstatic fans cheering. All you can feel is the water urging you to keep swimming. Then you reach your hand out and feel the wall. You emerge out of the crystal blue pool water and have won! Michael Phelps and Dara Torres are two extraordinary swimmers who live their lives in the Olympic pools. Both Torres Is Tops and Michael’s Magic deal with the challenges and successes of Dara and Michael’s Olympic careers, but they do so in different ways. Let’s start our swim through the lives of these two Olympic champions.
Morace, Robert A. "The Swimmer: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Some goodness comes out of taking the risk of swimming alone. Ones“prohibition and expectations are ignored.'; The challenger of this feat has let go of all egoism as a result of the vulnerability faced.
swim is a significant experience because it shows how she is able to gain control over her body:
In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” he conveys the transformation of the character through the use of the literary element of setting. The story begins in an American, middle class, suburbs. After what seems to be a night of partying and drinking. Neddy Merrill, the main character initially appears very optimistic; he has a perfect family, high social status and very few problems in his life. In spite of his age, he feels young and energetic therefore decides to swim across town through the neighborhood pools. However, his journey becomes less and less enjoyable as the day unfolds. The water become murky, uninviting and he becomes exhausted. Also the people in his surrounding become less cordial including his mistress who wants nothing to do with him. His voyage then comes to an end when he arrives to an empty, abandoned home. The central idea suggests that an unhealthy obsession with the materialistic aspects of life can lead to alienation.
Ever since I was a young student, teachers knew that I was not a normal kid. These teachers saw qualities in me that they could not see in many students at that age level. They saw a child who had a profound love to know more and had the ambition of a decorated Olympic swimmer to learn not just the material that was being taught but why it is being taught and how I can I use this information to make people’s lives better. Fast-forward to today, and you can clearly see that not much has changed except my determination to learn and my love to help others has done nothing but expanded.
Set in 1960's suburbia, “The Swimmer” follows a man's nightmarish journey home as the very aspects of life blend, fusing realism and surrealism to create an “imaginative and vital myth of time and modern man” (Auser 292). The story opens with Ned Merrill deciding to swim across the county only using the pools of his neighbors in an attempt to celebrate the day's beauty. As the story progresses, it begins to take on a more dark and surrealistic tone as Ned loses his will to continue. Finally, he stumbles home, only to find his house desolate, grim, and vacant. John Cheever, author of “The Swimmer,” could intend to create Ned in the image of a modern tragic hero following the archetypal themes of journey, discovery, and initiation or use the story to satirize the lives of the privileged in the middle of the American century; however, the greatest purpose of Neddy's surreal journey home is to create an allegorical tale of Ned's dive through the effects of alcoholism.
“They were tired of speed floating. They wanted to race and when they did, it pleased them” (64). This is where the journey to swimming success was ignited; the ditch races between the children. Sakamoto was not the one to suggest the races, but the children were. They were the spark to the real competition that began. Before they all knew it the 3YSC was created and it took of with a boom that meant many kids setting island records (75). In less than two years, these so-called “ditch kids of Maui” went from not knowing how to swim to wanting to compete more than anything and achieving higher than anyone could have ever imagined. I found this event most important because these ditch kids who faced a world of adversity, were finding joy in a sport that not only took their heart, but also
"The Swimmer." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 278-294. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
It is the final hour of observation of the night, and, as the members of the water polo team rush to the opposite end of the pool that I am observing from, I become dazed. Sitting in five excruciatingly long, overwhelming college-level classes, listening to small-minded people rant about some political event or another, and watching my basketball team practice without me is enough to make the aqua blue walls of the pool area inviting. I stare off into the wall, wondering if, just like the water, I can jump right in and disappear.
3 James E. Counsilman and Brian E. Counsilman, The New Science of Swimming, (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994) 6-7
I can remember when I joined the swim team as a freshmen in high school. I wanted to get over my fear of water and wanted to learn how to swim. Goggles in hand, swim cap tightly fitted on my head. My legs shaking. The smell of freshly applied sunscreen coming through my pores. Beads of sweat dripping from my forehead. Nervousness overpowering my body. I was scared. This was it, I’d have to swim. No more holding on walls. A big pool surrounded by walls, a diving board, and 13 feet of water. There was no way I was backing out. The question was could I do it?
Can’t think. My body shakes and screams from the tension. Heart pounding, nerves tingling, every muscle contracted. Stop. Focus. Deep breath and close everything out. I shut my eyes and the turbulent world in which I am submerged goes black and silent. Coach says visualize the race. Visualize your ideal race. I visualize….
My toes burrowed into the damp sand and I was relieved to realize that the water was warmer than I had expected. As I stood there and breathed in, deeply, the moist salty air, allowing my heart to fill with the vigor of the ocean and releasing the thoughts of the boy from my past with each exhale, a ball hit my feet and a man ran to get it as his friend yelled “you’re welcome!.” Were they trying to get my attention? I thought as I simply walked away avoiding eye contact with the man who collected the ball. I wandered along the water’s border allowing the water to cooly kiss my feet. the water hit my feet. I smiled as I looked at all of the young surfers attempting to catch the two foot waves. I amused myself by pondering what their future would look like and if I was witnessing the start of a surfing legend. I envied their potential, the years they would have to master their art to acquire their dreams, whatever they may be.
Any form of competitive swimming did not appear until the 1800s in Europe when schools accepted swimming as a natural part of life education. In the 18th and 19th century it became a competitive sport than being just a life saving skill. Swimming teams and clubs started to evolve all over the world. Although England was the first country to have an inside pool they aren’t one of the first countries of all times , China, Germany and Sweden were the first countries in swimming history. England and also invented the side stroke and after this one the freestyle evolved. Although there aren’t swimming competitions of side stroke it’s also known as a global stroke. In this essay I’m going to explain the changes of swimming for example the technology in swimming pools, the changes in bodies of the people that swam and more.