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Swimming Through Life I will never forget the day that I walked in to the year round pool where I swam at I was one of those swimmers who swam 9 times a week, 3 times before school in the mornings, Saturday morning, and every afternoon after school. On top of that to be in peak condition I biked 3 times a week after practice and did weights 3 times a week. I was quite the athlete. I had slight shoulder problems starting when I was 13 years old, (who would guess that with all of the exercise I was doing), and this held me back some in the competition world. Don’t get me wrong I was not terrible by any means, I had nationally ranked times and was being recruited by several in state schools when I decided to quit at 17. I regretted my choice for a long time, but recently have realized it may be the best thing I have ever done. I have instilled a lifetime of physical well-being, and strive to keep myself very healthy, which is a definite result of 9 years of swimming. I miss swimming every single day, my love for the water will never cease to exist. But I have learned that you cannot regret things in life, especially choices you make that you cannot necessarily go back on. Now, I am the head coach a swim team in my neighborhood every summer. I work with kids ages 4-18 who love swimming just as much as I did, and if they aren’t the best swimmers, they still love the water. The majority of my swim team is female, actually about 65-70% female. It is inspiring to see this occur, when years ago women were not allowed to participate at all in sports. Title IV allows equality in sports for men and women- it sure shows when participation of females is so high. I try to teach them that swimming gives them many opportunities and even if they never swim again, they will have learned something quite like I did and will never regret the experience. The fact that girls who aren’t necessarily good athletes but participate in some level of physical activity allows them to begin building confidence that they are just as powerful as men.
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