Swimming and the Attitude

So you probably heard that micheal phelps got "sidelined" by USA swimming for drinking and driving... maybe not but what you might not have heard of was how he made his come back. To sum it all up he essentially had a eye opening experience at a alcohol rehabilitation centre. The first time anyone saw him since the day he got arrested was at a big meet that happened not to long ago. He showed up in a full beard (kind of protesting that he didn't need to train for this meet... he won by the way). He was really an amazing person and definitely showed he could be a great guy.

Photo Courtesy of wtaq.com

This is a story that most swimmers could go though. We are not the nicest breed (might be the chlorine, I don't know) but we have a lot of heart. We have the heart to not just stop when we've won but to keep going because we know we haven't really won yet. Nobody has, and nobody ever win because life is to short to win everything. If someone not helps us get to a place of peace ( not just telling us how but showing us) we can be really nice people. We can do that for one another in our swimming community because almost all of us have the same sarcastic personality. We know one another, not personally, but just by being and competing at a swim meet really shows who you are. "Show you hot you drive and I will show you who you are." Thats a great quote from my favorite movie, Fast 5. It not only shows that people can know each other from being together but by being around one another.

Preparing for even Bigger Meets

After high school state and regular state you would think the season would be done and there is nothing left to do. I have qualified to go to a sectional meet in austin in a few weeks that will be the biggest meet I have ever been to. There are different "stages" in swimming that kind of compare you to other swimmers and see what you go for next. State is actually one of the lower ones on this list though.

-It starts with a qualifying meet which is really just swimming a event for the first time.
-Then there is the Beehive meet which is for the people who don't go to state.
- Of course state is after that.
-The first big meet is Far westerns, hundreds of people from western states attend.
-Zones is the next one, this is like far westerns but more selective.
-Senior Zones are a little harder. (I never went just cause.)
-Sectionals is the first meet where olympians might attend. (This is the one I qualified for)
-SCS is the next.
-Both junior and regular nationals.
-And last (of the normal meets) olympic trials.

Sectionals will really be interesting because I have no idea what to expect. In the past I knew who or what teams what teams would be there but this time teams from anywhere can buy their way into a different regions meet. I do not think it will really change how I swim except for the for the new stress. I really have no idea what to expect, there could be any kind of weather of water conditions. Even though the pool in indoors it really puts a downer on your day if its raining. What I am most scared to see are the walls. I do not know it where is a ledge or it it just going up and the ends of the pools. Or if the backstroke bars are higher or lower of if the touch pad is big or small. I have spent quite some time looking online but they only have details about the other sectional pool in Seattle. I would guess it looks quite like if though so the meet is going to be interesting!

Photo courtesy of Swim Center

The Most Famous Swimmer of Modern day

As you probably know Michael Phelps is the best male swimmer to ever walk the earth today, but nobody I have asked really knows where he came from. His first national meet he attended was the 2002 Pan packs meet. Nobody really knew him or what he was capable of (least not yet anyway).

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

His first huge meet was the 2004 Athens summer olympics. Now people started to get the picture, he would not go down without a fight and his will not lose that fight. Unlike other olympians he trained separately from his team mates. I figue it was because they were too slow for him. I know that sounds a little harsh but it's also best for the other swimmers as they don't have to feel bad about being beaten by so much. In the next few years he gained quite the reputation for swimming the fly. He is the best at the second hardest event. I have never seen him swim the mile but the fly definitely gets a lot of credit from me.

Then he shocked the world by announcing his true goal. He was going to be the most decorated olympian to ever live. By now you probably know that he achieved his goal and is back for more but he had some speed bumps along the way. He retired and came back twice and had some rough spots in life like everybody, but unlike everybody he got back up and tried again.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Michael Phelps is the president, the king, the top dog, and a dream that everyone wants to become. If I could be anything in the world right after some mystical creature it would be Michael Phelps. I could never imagine living that kind of life in all of my wildest dreams. He not only is the best swimmer but he is also quite the student, he had one of the highest collage GPAs out of any major swimmer and he is far smarter than Ryan Lochte. This is where the term "Collage... if Ryan Lochte can do it, so can you" comes into play. Michael is really just an amazing person despite his few mistakes that others would be crushed over.

Swimming, and the Package of Struggles that comes with it

Out of all the sports swimmers have it the worst. We have time for nothing, no social life (except for the weekend) or school work. Most of us struggle to study most of our classes and some of us just strait up forget to do any homework. Not only does the pool take up most of our time but what ever we have left we sleep. Whenever we are not doing things in school we sleep. Whenever we have nothing to do one the way to swimming or from, we sleep. Then, whatever time our parents make us stay us to do homework is the only time when we get stuff done. It's a full schedule for all of us.

Picture courtesy of Instagram

I am not saying swimming is bad. No, just the opposite, swimming is my entire life. Once you join swimming there's no going back. Nobody can convince you to leave and you yourself don't even know why you keep coming back. It's a calling that even the worst of people can not resist. Some with a true goal will say they want to achieve something but if your  anything like me and get asked this question... well, you just can't answer, not because you don't want to tell them. Because you honestly don't know yourself. Just ask Michael Phelps, he achieved his goal already, he got to be the most decorated swimmer of all time. Now what? What reason could he possibly have for coming out of retirement for a 3rd time? Or could he just not even know himself anymore?

Most people would say that swimmers are crazy from even thinking about spending so much time in a possibly poisonous pool all day. We don't care. We're the most committed athletes you could ever find. Someday people will finally notice swimming for the greatness it has. It will not be today but I do think it will come. I would hope sooner rather than later but thats just my opinion. If you don't believe me and support another sport just think, when someone gets injured in your sport what is the best way for them to recover and keep their activeness up? Swimming, every single time, however you ask the question.

Winning meets

Winning meets are probably the most awarding feeling ever. Sure you can win your event and feel great but being able to see that you contributed to something bigger than your self is even better. No one can take that away from you if they swim faster. You are a part of a team that can beat so many others, such as Park City High School. We are the focal point of 3A swimming in Utah. No other team from 3A has beaten us in the last three years. This is my first year on the team and I can already feel how much we will win by. Last year the girls won by over 100 points where as the boys won by seven points. As we did not lose any men for last year and gained six more, I say we have quite the chance to do it again on both sides.

Picture courtesy of Me

Not only are we rewarded by the other team but we are rewarded by each other. Something that other sports only dream about. Right as that final score comes up you won. You have helped you team show just how good they are. Cause its not about you in this instance. You represented all of park city with you sportsmanship and actions.You showed the parents, the other teams parents, and their swimmers that park city is a force to reckoned with.

Getting Ready for the Ultimate Goal

For football there is the Superbowl. For soccer there are the Cups. Every sport has an endpoint where exceedingly above average athletes compete to prove who has what it takes. For swimming there is the Olympics, and that is the ultimate dream for every single person on this planet. Sure you can say, "ya my team won the superbowl." Good for you and the 100 other players on your team. There's just something special about being able to say, "Hey, see that gold medal up there hanging on the mantle? I got that in the olympics!"

You race right along side your team mates, the ones you have trained thousands of hours with, and swimmers from completely different countries. The thrill of having millions of people watch you during and well after your race. I am not saying you'll be awesome just because you're famous (which you will be) but because you were lucky to be one of fifty people in the entire world to stand out. Swimming is the most watched sport in the olympics by 50% of all the people who watch it.