High School Swimming Research Paper

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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 …show more content…

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:

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