just keep swimming, just keep swimming

I slide my body into the pool. I know it will be cold, but somehow I am still shocked by the frigid waters. A few degrees cooler and I fear there will be ice cubes floating in it, and I will be able to see my breath. And we are supposed to 'warm up' in this? A normal swim meet would have two teams, but since this is an invitaional there are almost ten. Ten teams trying to practice before their races, at the same time, in eight lanes. There are almost sixty girls on my team alone, the pool looks like it is about to expolde. Every girl is swimming the best they can in the miniscule space that they get in the water. My muscles ache as I pull myself along the water, my arms straining with every stroke. Probably from the three hour practice yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that...

Fast forward to the one hundred meter breastroke, my event. It's the last indivdual event of the night, which basically means I had the entire meet to psych myself out, to worry. I stand at the beginning of lane six, half watching the JV swimmer finish her race before I have mine. Just like every basketball player has a routine they do before shooting a free throw, every swimmer has their routine they do before every race. I stretch out my muscles one last time and retighten my goggles that I had just adjusted thirty seconds prior. The girl that just finished struggles to pull herself out of the water, breathing heavily and face red. Funny, that will be me in a little over a minute.

I step up onto the block, curling my toes around the edge of the platform. Finding my balance I wait for the ever familiar: "Take your mark...", then the starter noise. The reaction is so quick, I am not even sure how my brain told my body to dive that quickly. After my body pierces the water I finally begin to swim. Finding the right tempo and speed is hard when you have no idea what the clock says. The last twentyfive yards is when your muscles just die. It feels like my body is going to give out, but it's the last lengh and I can see the end... so all I have to do is just keep swimming.