The thing about family is that you have your ups and your downs and your disagreements but you never stop loving each other and even though you get on each others last nerve you know at the end of the day they will be there. With most sports teams it is the same but it's something different with diving.
Firstly we are all primadonnas or can be at times. It comes with the sport. We all know it and as much as we tell our selfs we are not we know we can be. Dealing with this every day (sometimes twice a day) at practice is challenging. We have all been around the person who we would call a "princess" or who fits the phrase "who died and made you king." We hate to admit it but it is part of who we are and most of us keep ourselves and each other in check with some "light" sarcasm.
We drive each other insane. If at one point in the season you don't want to strangle one of your teammates something is wrong. You spend hours a day together and you test each others nerves on top of testing yourself with the stress of diving. We get past it but until we do it might as well be world war three behind the boards.
You have seen me at my worst and my best. My teammates will be the first to tell you that if I am stressed out it is not pretty. I am a hot mess. They are always there though, and they always know just what to say. We turn to each other for moral and emotional support. We are jumping off of a board doing things most people wouldn't dare try for christ sake! Somedays we need a pick me up from someone in the same situation or someone to tell us we are being dumb or just someone to say "I get it."
We talk about everything. Nothing is off limits at practice. I promise. Deep conversations about the universe, what we got on our test, what we did or didn't do that maybe we should or shouldn't have, relationships, you name it. Part of our team dynamic is that we all read each other well and can trust each other and when you get comfortable around someone it is easy to talk to them. With everything that happens in a day you can imagine that a two hour practice is never boring. However, somedays the conversations can get pretty heated.
It may not seem like it but we have each others backs more than it looks like. To the outsider looking it you may see the guys giving me a hard time or me giving them a hard time and it may look like we can't stand each other. That's not the case though. We would never openly admit it but we do care about each other more than we let on. People don't see the support we give each other in practice or hear the small side talks we have when we know that someone is really struggling.
The bottom line is I would turn to my teammates for a lot. My family is amazing and I love them and they have gotten me through countless obstacles but it's my second family, my team, that gives me something to look forward to everyday. I have days I hate going to practice but they make it worth while. The friendships I gain from diving make all the hardship and pain and tears worth it.
