As a competitive swimmer, I train 19 hours a week as a member of the University of Manitoba Bison’s Men’s Swim Team. However, growing up, I was never a great swimmer. I just didn’t have the classic swimmer body type—tall, long limbs with big hands and feet—but I loved the sport. Looking back, I can imagine how my parents felt. Their short, scrawny kid desperately wanted to be in a sport that he wasn’t meant for. They put me in swimming lessons, and I kept wanting to go back, over and over. Eventually, they put me in competitive swimming, on the Manitoba Marlins, when I was around 12, a fairly late age to enter competitive swimming. Many of the kids that I was swimming with had been on the team since they were 6 or 7. I showed up ready to have some fun, and was absolutely crushed by everyone. I went home devastated and crying, never wanting to swim again. I can vividly remember my parents sitting down and telling me that I could quit now, or I could work every day to follow my passion. …show more content…
I was never the best swimmer, but I certainly worked hard, and had the most fun doing it. When it came time to apply to University, I didn’t have the times to qualify for the University team. However, my old coach put in a good word about my work ethic and improvement, and as a result I was on the team. Once again, through dedication, I am now set to graduate as a 4th year Bison Athlete. This dedication and hard work extends beyond sport—I’ve maintained a GPA above 4.0 (4.09 unadjusted; 4.13 adjusted) and have been honored as Academic All-Canadian each
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Show MoreImagine 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.
At the age of 16 I began looking into competitive swimming techniques, teaching myself each stroke and repeating them; wanting to be better than just a doggy paddle and a deep breath underwater. My junior year of high school, I
If you’re one of the many people who has a family member who simply can’t live without alcohol, then John Cheever’s “The Swimmer” is a story that you would like to read. The story is about a guy named Neddy Merrill who is simply in love with alcohol. Throughout the story, Neddy goes from someone's swimming pool to the next because he wants to make his way home by ‘water.’ This is not normal for an ordinary dude to do. Throughout the story, Cheever hides in plain sight symbolic clues that foreshadow a conclusion that Neddy has a serious issue.
Jeffers, N. (n.d.). Training youths for a sound future in athletics. Intensity Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2004, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag51.htm
When I was accepted into the University of Oklahoma, I was not aware of the tradition or prestige that the football team carried. Moreover, I had no idea about the honor it was to don the crimson and cream in the arena of athletics. And, I never envisioned rooming with them. I enjoyed sports, but I loved reading and writing more. Initially, I was focused on building a collegiate career that one day would propel me to my goal of studying law. Yet, the more time I spent interacting with the athletes, the more parallels I noticed between their personalities and mine. Their diligence, perseverance and compassion were all traits that I could identify with since they were reflective of me. For the most part, the majority of the athletes were hungry to achieve and they desired knowledge at all costs; a combination that still resonates with me today.
Triple impact competitors are athletes who work hard to improve the teammate's performance, lead their team to success, and make the game better. I think I meet the minimum standards of joining the Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarship since I have been performing well in my classes and more importantly leading my teammates in my discussion group in the right direction. In addition, I have been working so hard to grow as a person both physically and mentally since I joined my school team. However, I made sure that I balance between my academics and athletic life because I believe both are equally important to guarantee the successful experience. I meet the standard of making myself better since I am ready to participate in games any time, as
I have been swimming year-round on a club team since the age of six and when I was younger improving came relatively easily. However, around age 13, I hit a training plateau despite having the same work ethic and focus that I had previously had. I grew to despise swimming and at points I wanted to quit. However, unlike Junior, I had role models and mentors who were positive influences on me and who helped me to overcome this challenge. Primarily, I had several of my best friends on the team who convinced me to keep persevering and to not simply quit the sport that I loved so much just because I was no longer dropping time. For example, every day I watch my close friends Lizanne and Cate come to practice and give it their all, regardless of the numerous injuries and medical issues that plagued their swimming career; their positive outlook and dedication motivated me to try even harder than I had before. Moreover, I had by parents, something that Junior did not have; my parents were always there to support me after yet another disappointing meet reminding me that “you get five minutes for a win and five minutes for a lost”. My parents where my voice of reason as I tried to work through my issues; they were always there to encourage me, but also were very honest with me
Over the past years, I knew that the cost of attending a good college was going to place financial stress on me and my family. One of the ways I could help offset those costs were to achieve success in the classroom and on the baseball field. I understand the importance of keeping my GPA as high as possible and having a good ACT score. Volunteering in the community and becoming a strong leader and role model the past four years has been a top priority for me. I hope my experiences and achievements will help qualify me top scholarships. I have also tried to excel in my sport in hopes to qualify for additional scholarships. Once in college, I will be enrolled in work study and intern programs so that I am more marketable when I graduate. I do
Lungs burning, muscles screaming out in pain, the symphony of cheers reduced to a mere whisper, the rush of water like a typhoon in your ears. The body in the lane next to you, the moment they become your sister or brother, the moment they become your worst enemy. The hundredths of a second ticking by as if they are trying to race you; they will seal your fate. An entire world reduced to nothing but a black line, the path to success, the road to the all important goal: getting a P.R. “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time,” Michael Phelps, an Olympic gold medalist, once stated. This is the life of a swimmer. We train hard to swim hard, and we swim hard for ourselves and ourselves alone. We push past our own limits to reach out to our dreams, and then we push harder to grasp them.
I arrived at the high school on a warm sunny day in the middle of summer for my first day of high school swimming. Being a tiny seventh grader, I walked in with butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t know what to expect on my first day, and the thought of swimming with incredibly fast high school students elevated my fear. I walked briskly to the locker room and changed into my swimsuit. Finally, I went on to the pool deck and sat in the bleachers waiting for practice to start. I sat by myself and
When I was younger my parents gave me the opportunity to take swim lessons. They said that they wanted to see me tread the same waters that most every other kid enjoyed playing in. Within days I was able to stop sitting in the shallow end, but I was able to frolic with my friends over the grounds I could not touch. This was the only time they wanted me to be similar to an ordinary child. Any other time, I heard the words “Try a little harder. Go a little faster. Learn a little more.”, because being average was never part of their plan. It wasn’t until my highschool years that I realized that those swim lessons had less to do with enjoyment, but more to do with surviving.
After a great year of swim and dive, TJ Spartan Swimmers are prepared to face a larger workload in more unison in the upcoming season. Senior Rachel
After high school and two years of junior hockey, I began attending and playing hockey at St. Norbert College which gave me the opportunity to accomplish my goal. I continue to pursue my passion for hockey, but I have also begun the transition into the next stage of my life. Drawing on the life skills I had learned during my time away from home, along with the teamwork skills that I had developed throughout a lifetime of hockey, I felt well-prepared for this stage of my life at college. These skills enable me to balance a full course load each semester, while playing a sport from O...
Swimming has been my whole life, since I jumped into the pool for the very first time. I loved every aspect of swimming from the adrenaline running through my body during my races and getting to spend even more time with my friends and my sister, and the stress of big meets coming up in the schedule. Except everything didn't go according to plan after the first day of school when I got home and I saw my parents sitting by my sister on the coach and my sister was crying.
Finish, Finish, Go, and Go you just set the new world record. Every four years lots of people gather around a pool cheering for Olympians. It is a very noisy place. A lot of Olympians that are part of the summer Olympics are very athletic, they swim all year around. The swimming Olympic history and background is very interesting. They have done so many new things over that past couple of years. They come out with new rules every year to make things more fair and challenging. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for. I was swimming the 200 meter fly I was at a really good time when I had 50 meter sprint left at the end all I could think about was I’m going to set the new world record. Olympic swimming is a very fun sport it is very athletic. Every year in the summer time every one always sits around a TV watching this it is very famous in America. Swimmers from all around the world come and here and compete. There is a lot of competition there I have found out a lot about the history of swimming. There are a lot of events and tons of records that have been broke. A lot of Olympians have set future goals to stride for.