Descriptive Essay About Swimming

Great Essays
This is it, the part of my day that I half dread, half look forward to all day long. The point where I take a leap and let the stress of the school day fall behind me. The dread comes from knowing how hard my next two hours are going to be and calculating how many miles I’ll be swimming today. But there’s nothing in my life comparable to the joy I get when I slip into the chlorinated water of San Jose Pool every day. Six lanes, plus a diving well, hold all of my secrets, hopes, worries, and goals. Every afternoon I enter and feel nothing but love from my second home. The seconds before diving into the water are filled with anticipation and restlessness. It’s just before five in the afternoon, late in a September Tuesday, and the sun hangs …show more content…
My swim cap, still slightly damp from yesterday’s practice, is draped over my hair to keep me moving through the water efficiently. My sleek speedo goggles, which were a birthday gift from my favorite sister, are suctioned to my eyes. Per my coach’s crazy methods, I’m wearing two swimsuits and bear unshaven legs, both to create more drag in the water. It’s as if an extra millimeter of leg hair shaved off at the end of the season will shave off a second of time. Thinking about my leg hair reminds me how gross the concept actually seems to everyone who’s not a swimmer and who doesn’t play the mental game of being smoother than a dolphin at the end of the season to save time in a race. I am sporting two of my favorite swimsuits, the bottom being last year’s blue and gold team suit, and the top being a worn out purple and black one that I’ve owned for years. My pull buoy, kickboard, fins, and paddles, equipment I’ll use for various sets throughout the evening, rest against the wall behind my lane for the season, lane 1. My kickboard sits on a special shelf in the equipment room, one for the boards that have been signed and passed down through the years. To own the special signed board. I had to become friends with an upperclassman when I was a freshman. My upperclassmen pal was Delaney Bounds, hers was Sarah Vandermillen, hers was Caroline Ott, and hers was Megan Whiteman all the way back in 2010. Whomever I pass my bright yellow board onto …show more content…
“Girls! Get in the water,” “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” or my personal least favorite “Girls, what are we waiting for? Christmas?!”. Anyone who has met Coach Emily knows that she does not have a whisper or even a normal talking volume; everything she says is a thundering yell. Beneath all the yelling and complaining a peaceful, constant hum echoes through the building. The hum comes from the pumps running under the pool and the water trickling into the ugly, green gutter. The pool deck consists of what seems like a million, one-inch tiles. Over time, the small white squares have been tinted to a milky, off-white color, letting patrons know the age of the pool. Breaking up the sea of white tiles are the forest green colored gutters, slurping in the excess water like a child with a slushie. Painted on the deck right behind my lane are the words, NO DIVING, in bold black lettering. I read the message and find it ironic because in about three seconds that’s exactly what I’m going to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    All of my hard work and training had paid off and I had proven to myself, my team, my coach and everyone that had doubted me that I can achieve anything if i put my mind to it. Many people believe swimming is not a sport full of blood, sweat, and tears; different excuses are swimming is not recognized in many schools across Texas, it does not require a lot of effort; others oppose stating that it is. Of course the ones…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The bed mercilessly taunts my exhausted limbs to return but my determined heart persuades me to brave the trial by water once more. As I dive over the ice cold pool, dread and regret fill every moment until my body finally makes contact. For two, sometimes three, hours the situation will only worsen as I repeatedly raise my arms above my head and pull back as hard as possible. Weeks of this pass by, all for the sake of being able to travel through 100 meters of water a few milliseconds faster. Swimming has been my primary sport since the age of eight.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Swimming is something that almost everyone loves to do. Whether it is in a pool or the ocean, there is a sense of freedom and weightlessness that we can't get anywhere else. As long as you can float in water you shouldn’t really have any fear or worry. If that water is thirty-two degrees on the other hand, then you might start to worry and panic. In the case of Lynne Cox, after the first page it kept me in suspense wondering, was she just going to die of hypothermia?…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the season, I knew that the entire team expected me to shave my head. Every varsity swimmer had gotten their heads shaved in previous years and were planning on doing so again. I, a simple freshman, would not be the detriment to their coordinating hairstyles. Multiple teammates reinforced this expectation by making jokes about what I would look like without the mop of hair that was shielding my large forehead. I always forced laughter or made noises of complaint in response but never expressed my legitimate horror of parting with my hair.…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lifeguard Narrative

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The day seemed to drag on and on, as I waited, counting down the days to California. It was a humid, sunny afternoon down at the Alton pool, where I usually spend most of my summer days working as a lifeguard. Today was very different than most…. And maybe the reason why was because it was my last day of work before I flew off to the big L.A. Most days at the pool the time went by slower than any I have ever known, with the scorching hot sun burning my skin, and little kids yelling at their friends telling each other secrets or what they want to play next.…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Walking on the pool deck my freshman year I was nervous yet excited. I questioned what I was doing as I had never played water polo, but I decided to give it a try. I thought, ‘how hard could it be.’ My first practice proved it was truly brutal. I was out of shape, did not perform the drills correctly, and I could barely swim with the ball.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The smell of chlorine on my skin is a scent I don't even realize any more. I let out a deep yawn as I slowly tie up my hair into my specific bun. I then in a one fluid motion I latch my cap on my bun and pull it over my head. The next step is my goggles, I place them on my eyes and let the tint change my surroundings. I jump into the cool, but some how thick water of the YWCA’s pool.…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Because the ninth graders were not allowed to run in this strictly middle school race, I was among the oldest in the group. This was the meet that our team had been preparing for since the beginning of the season, and I prepared even more intensely in the past few days. I had been hydrating well, eating the right foods, and even skipped swim practice the day before to rest my muscles before the meet. This had been the moment that I had been preparing for, and made sacrifices for, and doing well felt like the only option. The pressure was swallowing me up, and pulling me back to the…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Aircast's Break-Up

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    But on the first day of what some call the best year of one's life, Senior year of Highschool, I made a mistake. On the first day back in the water after a two week break, and the first last day of highschool, I was euphoric with my new found seniority. Although had still been in contact with my friends from the team, I had not seen them since before the break and I was eager to catch up. Our practice had been in session for fifteen minutes and we were still warming up when I recognized my best friend behind my lane, a rush of adrenaline ran through my body and I lifted my head from the water to say “Hi.”…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After adjusting to the chill temperature of the water, I sat on some rocks and let the waves knock me around. On the other hand, the rest of my family had grown restless, wanting to brave the increasingly high waves. After treading water for a bit, my father decided it would be a great idea to swim to the buoy—really just a piece of wood—that was thirty feet away in the waves. My sister Sarah and I accepted the challenge…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Mom, can I quit?” I said impatiently, throwing my swimming suit and towel into my bag. “Why? It is a good chance for you to get some exercise.” This is the twenty-fourth time that I asked to quit my swimming class.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Beach Epilogue

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Waves crashed over rocks tall enough to pierce the sky as we reached the shore in the dinghy. I stepped into the crystal clear water and saw a plethora of seagulls around the rocky hills. “I’ll pick you up here in about 2 hours,” our charter captain called as he drove away, “Enjoy the Baths!” We started our trek to the beach, my mom and dad leading and my sister Emily and I trailing behind. As we reached the beach Emily grabbed my hand and pulled me ahead to see the beach.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I took a deep breath in and out trying to calm myself as our car approached the curb. “Good luck today. Swim fast.” My mom said as I slowly stepped out of the car. “Thanks.”…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Neddy Merrill has been drinking a lot and he goes to the pool to swim: “He was breathing deeply, stertorously as if he could gulp into his lungs…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Everybody were very excited to have me in the class but they did not know that I do not know how to swim and afraid of water. “Class. Let's start with a simple backstroke swim”, said Charlie. I tapped on Charlie’s shoulder and told him that I don’t know backstroke, and I am afraid to swim.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays