Dear my beloved sport,
If I were writing this at a different time it may have been a love letter or hate mail. I’ve gone through a wide range of emotions because of you, and honestly, I can’t imagine what I would be like without you. In season I complain about the seemingly excessive amount of time I spend in the water, some days I spend more time following the black line than I do sleeping. Out of season I look back, and I remember. I remember the family I had every day before and after school, the people that, even though they constantly annoyed me, I couldn’t live without. I remember the days I would come in, distraught from my classes, or the drama of high school, and as I stared at the bottom of the pool I would feel my thoughts leaving me, you would console me in times of trouble.
Now, I am taking a break, and it’s not you, it’s me, as cliché as it sounds, I really need to take care of myself for a bit. As much as I love you, at times, you don’t always treat me the best. This season, especially, I was plagued by injury after injury. The constant work I put in to drop a few hundredths of a second really takes a toll on my body, from shoulder injury to knee injury back to my shoulder, it’s really not the easiest to deal with. If I didn’t love you I would have quit a while ago, but honestly, I couldn’t imagine my life without you. You give me refuge from my life, when I am stressed out or overwhelmed I can find solace with you. When I am happy I go to you and I share it, making myself ever happier just by having people to share it with. When I am sad I go to you, and I have people to pick me up. Looking back on all the memories I have from high school, you, unsurprisingly, make up most of them.
From walking up on to the podium at Districts to jumping into the pool at Bucknell University for States, to getting a best time at some weird mid-season meet, to coming close to a best time in practice, even to finishing some practices. I have a tremendous sense of pride in the sport I chose when I was young, and I have learned from you. I have learned how to work hard, how to persevere, and how not to underestimate. Outside smoke isn’t just for swimming, sometimes the lane eights in your life will humble you, but I have learned that. I have learned how to work for something that is greater than myself, a team, a family, that needs everyone working together to truly succeed. I have learned that even when I dive in half a length behind in a relay, it doesn’t matter at all. There is so much you have taught me, so much struggle you have presented me, and so much love you have given me. You are my passion, my love, and I hope to continue our relationship once I am ready.
Until we meet again,
An Injured Swimmer Hoping to Be Back Soon
