For six years, I have been sacrificing countless hours of my life in order to inflict pain unto myself by pushing my body to the limit. Many people ask me why I subject myself to waking up at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, just to dive into the crystal blue, freezing water before school. The reason is simple, I love it. I love to push my boundaries, love the feeling of the lactic acid building in my muscles and, more than anything, I love to win. And as I began my fifth swim season, a new goal had begun to take shape in my mind. I was about to partake in a journey of self-improvement, in order to assist my team reach out Ithica or breaking a National Age Group record.
As I began to take my goal more seriously, I needed to do research about the record. The Aquazots, who went a 1:53.27, set the time in 2008. Their breaststroke leg, which was the leg I hoped to compete in, went a 33.67. My best time at that point was a 34.96, so I had some work to do. The day after I completed my research, I went to the pool, where I spend hours every week, where I bond with my friends, and where I complete most of my homework, to talk to my coach. I met him before practice and told him of my goal. He was impressed, a little shocked even, but he encouraged me and said he would do whatever he could to help. He reminded me of Hermes right then, giving me the tools I needed to succeed. I knew then that if I trained hard enough, I would reach my goal. I began to push harder and harder until my body would give out on me and I needed to rest. And once I received the rest I needed, I kept on swimming, all the way to the qualifying meet.
The qualifying meet that took place a few weeks before the championship meet was imperative to my journey. In...
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...he middle of the pool deck for hours, until I finally heard Koppi shout in joy, followed by Thomas. Opening my eyes, I looked with anxiety to the scoreboard and saw that we had indeed won the race, and had gone a 1:52.78, breaking the National Age Group record by .49 seconds.
When my team and I had finally reached our Ithica, I expected to feel fulfilled, and ready for a rest. Strangely, I felt neither of these. In fact, I felt energized, ready for a new fight, a new goal, a new Ithica to work towards. In reflecting and writing this essay, I surprised myself with how much I remembered about the journey, yet how little I remembered about the times. I had to look up all the times, the cuts, the splits for this essay, because they weren’t as important as the steps I took to reach my goal. I guess what they say is true; the joy is in the journey, not the destination.
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
I had always had an odd passion for working out, even before I became a weightlifter. I endured years of volleyball conditions, all of which left me sprawled across the floor, drenched in sweat; however, I never complained. My muscles quivered, my heart raced, my lungs pressed against my ribs, and my body collapsed; but my mind was determined. However, I found myself alone in this sentiment.
- representing the US in the 1994 Italian Del Passatore 100 km, where I finished 54th of 3500 participants in 9:39.
Edgar Allan Poe has been debated to be the author of the most dark and horrific pieces of literature. He was favored by many for his complex pieces of literature that have ultimately impacted the world of literature today. However, Poe’s pieces of work did receive harsh criticism before and after his death. Because Poe was generally known for his thought-provoking short stories, his short stories often received mixed reviews. One of Poe’s most arguable short stories is “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This short story was “regarded as an early and supreme example of the Gothic horror story” (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). Poe himself described this piece as “arabesque” due to its ornate prose (Plot Summary: "The Fall of the House of Usher"). However, many critics disagreed with each other on their views of “The Fall of the House of Usher”.
The course is weird, it’s a two lap which is good. This means you know exactly what the second half of the race was going to be like. Me as the 4th runner, and the 3 and 5 guys, went single file for a good ⅜ ofa mile and we were zooming around corners. during the back half of the race, I was really close to medaling. I went as fast as I could, I had no idea how fast the race had been, I thought when I saw the teens clicking by it was a 19:teens but I got closer and it was 18:17 I was astounded and straight out of breath. That race we were 4 points behind the 2nd place team, and they were in our district. That set us up for a good week and effort during practice because if we had a race at the district race, we were going to make it as a team to state,which is the goal all season long. I was not feeling great that week and I thought it was going to be like my first xc race finishing with a 16:02 time for 2.x miles and a lot of girls beating me. The morning of race day, I felt like crap, but the bus ride nap to maryville made me feel fine and ready to secure a spot to state. There was a lot of scepticism from the seniors, who were facing their last
iving up my week and weekend nights for swim practice was something I was used to by the time I started high school. Swimming, was my calling, and with that came many sacrifices. Practices were everyday, Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturdays, and consisted of countless sets of sprinting, kicking and pulling. The only thing that kept us stable during practice was counting down the time on the clock, “Just thirty more minutes, and I can relax for another twenty hours.” From there I would go home in time to shower and finish homework. Finishing what I needed to do before midnight was considered luck. The cycle repeated itself as I would get up the next day and do it again. However, there are many other aspects to this sport besides
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.
I proved to myself and that I am a tough human being that can take on anything, one step at a time. There will be breakdowns as well as self and extrinsic doubt involved, but I will and can do anything. Many of my peers and teachers do not know I did this race and frankly, I don't need them to. I may not have changed in anyone else's eyes that day but for me everything changed. I raced for myself that
As the first meet neared, things were going well. I made it onto the 4x100 team making me the third fastest kid on the team. The other members of the relay were Jason Schmidt, Jeremy Willard and Rodney Schmidt. Jason and Jeremy were both the top dogs and Rodney and I were second from the bottom of the barrel.
We had been training since December for this meet. Coach Hampton knew our goal was to place, or possibly win the 4x800 meter relay so he made our workouts harder than ever so we could have a chance at accomplishing our goal. Hampton, one of the best coaches in the state, has trained athletes to be state qualifiers in Track and Cross Country every year since 1989. Within his first five years coaching, his cross country team won Back to Back State Championships. And in Track he has coached the State Record holder in the 1600 and 800 meter run. I looked up to Coach Hampton, every time he advised me to change my race strategy or work on my kick I did. But he was never satisfied. He always wanted me to be faster and when I became faster he wanted me to be even
Eventually, we arrived at the race course. Stepping off of the bus, the exhilaration was uplifting as we looked across the sunrise ...
Competitive swimming has given him a sense of belonging, as well as increasing his self-esteem, providing daily fulfillment, and building a foundation for a career as a rescue swimmer; all while making him happy.
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
Going into the first race we had not expected much since Susan and I had never run this type of race. There were so many crucial things that we had to remember. It wasn't just to get out of the blocks and burn up the track; there was a baton involved, a certain amount of steps to take, and even a certain way to hold the baton.
When I was a university student about two years ago, I enrolled in a scuba diving course. My scuba diving teacher had a big surprise: I didn’t know how to swim. In fact, I had a big fear of water. When I was a child, my parents tried to help me, so they made me take many swimming courses. Although I tried hard, I did not learn to swim. When I enrolled in the scuba diving course, I was still afraid of water. Every day when I entered the swimming pool, I battled with my fear. Fortunately, my courage won every time. Finally, one day while I was practising my dive, I realized that I did very well. So, finally, after six months of hard work, I completed the course. It is true that I was always the worst of the group, but in my own evaluation,