Why Do We Swim?

Swimming can be a brutal sport at times.  Sometimes we question exactly why we swim.  We train our butts off day after day with little to no breaks, because if you take too much time off  you could get out of shape. And lets be honest, trying to get back into shape is the worst.  We train all these mad hours to drop just the littlest bit of time.

The question we constantly as ourselves is why do we swim? Why do we put ourselves through the brutal training to feel defeated at the end of the day if we don’t hit the times we want? Why do we continue to swim when we’ve been pushing through each day to still be where we were a year ago.  Why do we decide to jump into a cold pool at 5AM when you know everyone else in the world is sleeping? Why do we choose to constantly stare at a black line all day?

We swim because we don’t know life without it.  Most of us have been swimming since forever ago.  It’s not just a hobby we do for fun, it’s habit.  We are now in the habit of constantly getting up early for morning practice.  Even when we have days to sleep in, we only sleep in until 7:30.  We are so used to having our weekends booked from swim meets, our afternoons booked from practice, and when we have a day off we have no idea what to do.  We are in the routine of practice, school, practice.  When that is interrupted we have no idea what to do.

We swim because we get to see our family everyday.  You spend hours and hours a week with your teammates. Now, they just aren’t your teammates, they are your family. They are the ones who push you each and everyday.  They go through the same things that you do each practice. They are by your side encouraging you each meet and practice, even if you are struggling.  Your teammates have become a major part in your life.  Even if you aren’t with them at the pool, you are with them somewhere else. They have helped shape who you are today.

We swim because of the feeling we get when we have a great practice. When you get into a zone and you are absolutely killing the set. There is nothing more exhilarating than hitting those times in a set.  And it’s a great feeling when the coach and your teammates notice you putting in the work.

We swim because when we do finally hit those goal times, we feel unstoppable.  The feeling that all our hard work has finally paid off.  The best part is touching the wall and looking up at the time you just hit.  We live for seeing time drops on that board, and your teammates live to see your reaction once you see that time.

We swim because we love it. Although we may constantly question why we swim each day, being with our family and having hard work pay off is what gets us back in the pool the next day.  Our love for the sport keeps us going. Swimming is a love/hate relationship, but at the end of the day we all know why we swim.  We swim because the passion we have for the sport and the people who surround us. Swimming has all helped shape who we are today and has allowed each of us to have incredibly opportunities.