Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Summer Swim Team!


Over the summer I was on the swim team for Newburgh Swim Club. It was the first time I had ever swam competitively on a swim team. Starting the day we got out of school, we had 8 o'clock a.m. practice. I got up at 7:30 and managed to put on the blue and red tye-dye one piece swim suit. I packed my swim bag with a towel and a sweatshirt and sweatpants for after swimming. After I was all packed up, my sister and I would ride our bikes up to the swim club. When the coaches said it was time to start I had to put on my swim cap. It was really funny to see all the people in their swim caps because they looked like brightly colored, bald heads. I absolutely HATED these morning practices because there is nothing worse then jumping into a freezing cold pool and swimming what seemed like millions of laps every single morning.

The pool lanes are based on ability and speed level, lane one is the slowest and lane 6 is the fastest. I decided that I would rather swim in lane two with all of the nice little 6th graders rather then the other lanes in which the swimmers practically drown you if you swim to slow. Of course, I didn't exactly want to admit my age to these 6th graders in my lane so when they asked me how old I was I simply replied “um I'm not sure.” However, I was able to blend in with the swimmers in my lane because I was so much tinier then these kids 3 grades younger. Once the hour long practice was done, I quickly dried off and threw on my sweats. Lydia (who is also on the swim team) and I would talk about our plans for the day and sometimes we would decide to go do a 3 mile run. It felt so good to be active and healthy but it was especially fun since we did it together.

I did this EVERY single day until the end of July but looking back, I am so glad I did it because it was a great workout. My swimming skills have improved 100% and I have learned many new strokes. At the beginning of the swim season, it was really hard for me to swim 2 laps but by the end, I was able to swim much, much more. Hopefully, next summer I will be in lane 3!

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