Personal Narrative-Accelerated Swimming

My sophomore swimming season marked my transition to adulthood. My journey to sectionals taught me to reach higher and push myself to attain goals that at first seem unrealistic. Ever since I began swimming at a young age, breaststroke has come easily to me. I would place in the top twelve at swim meets, but there was still room for improvement. During my sophomore year, my head coach, Kyle, saw potential in me, took me aside at practice, and told me that he believed I had the ability to drop six seconds in the 100 breaststroke. In the swimming world, just one second is considered a notable accomplishment. In the past, I had set my goal times two or three seconds below my best, so raising my goal to six seconds was unfathomable. Throughout the season, my coach started assigning breaststroke events for me to compete in. I was working with the new breaststroke coach, Megan, to …show more content…
Diving off the block, I could hear my team cheering for me. I swam harder than ever before. My tempo, pull, and kick were all contributing to my speed. Upon touching the wall and finishing the race, I remember my jaw dropping as I looked up at the LED screen and scanned from my name to my time. I was stunned. I reexamined the screen and an immense smile spread across my face. The scoreboard recorded my final time as 1:11.18. I was awestruck. A seven second improvement. Starting with a 1:18, I finished the season with a 1:11. I pulled myself out of the pool, feeling both exhausted and ecstatic. My coach’s eyes became teary as I approached. He told me that he was so proud of me, and that seeing my jaw drop after seeing my time was the reason he was still coaching. My smile wide and my legs still trembling from the race, I thanked him for supporting me and making me realize I had the potential to swim faster than I had ever thought. My team was erupting in cheers and congratulations as I walked to the