Swimming is identified as an individual sport. What many do not recognize is that most of the action goes on behind-the-scenes. Yes, swimmers do compete for the most part individually, but the spectator does not see the teammates on the side cheering the swimmer on to a best time. The viewers do not see the teammates that push the athlete in the weight room to go higher or in the pool to go faster.
Teammates are the ones there to pick you up when you think you are having a bad day. They are the ones that make jokes during boring sets and there is always the optimistic person of the lane whenever a hard set is given. Although swimming is focused around following a black line continuously, it is much more than that.
I know for a fact that once swimming is over for me that I will be able to look back on the memories made. I will do my best to forget the horrible sets, but I will never forget having teammates on the side of the pool, cheering me on to beat our opponents. I won't forget about joking around in-between sets while the coach is writing the next set on the board. I won't forget being on the bus on the way to a meet and feeling the energy as we got ready to race.
In the water, it is just you racing the clock. At this point it is only you and the water. You can't put any blame on anybody else for how you did because it is all on you. Your actions however affect the team and I think that is even more important. Although this sport is based on individuality it shows that your actions affect everyone else on the team and whether you get enough points to beat your opponents.
When it is all said and done, when I crawl out of the pool from my final race, I can look back on some awesome teammates who were there for me when my body wanted to give up and they pushed me to race them. They were the ones that made it all worth it. Swimming is not easy at all, but the competition and teammates make it all worth it. Not many people can stick with a sport that requires early mornings jumping into a cold pool, pulling on an extremely tight tech suit, or just doing a sport that doesn't require air.
It takes a special kind of athlete to continue into collegiate swimming. It takes up most of our time and makes us focus on when to do our academics and squeeze in some social time. That creates a bond that is unlike any other team. So while you may see swimmers as standing alone behind their blocks, it took a team to get them to where they are. It took hours upon hours to get prepared to race our big races and we all feel a sense of success when someone improves. When you question how swimmers do it, most of the time you are comparing us to when you do circle swimming on your own? But when we swim with our teammates it is so much more. We carry a special sense of competitive drive that is unlike any other sport. While we want everyone to do well, practice is our time to race and push each other to improve ourselves.
