I am a person who loves learning new things. This is why I decided to join the swim team at my university. The year that I joined, the swim program was cut. So, I had the pleasure of being on the team for the last season of its existence. Though my swimming career was short lived, I learned so much. My coach, who dedicated 27 years of his life to Notre Dame of Maryland University’s swim program, taught me lessons that I will always cherish in the one season that I was a member of his team.

Swimming is a sport that requires mental toughness and dedication. It is up to you to push yourself as hard as you possibly can so that you can put the best time on the board. This is something I learned during the season. There were days that I doubted my abilities to keep going because my coach pushed me so hard, but he knew that I had it in me. There were days when I felt optimistic and days when I wasn’t sure if I was going to come out alive. Above all, the important thing was that I gave it all I had. And from swimming, I learned that in everything you do, what you put in is what you'll get out.

There was one instance during my training trip in Florida when I slacked off during a set. I knew I was improving but my coach held me to a higher expectation than I held myself. I learned never to do that again after my coach told me with a straight face and a monotone voice, “You’re better than what you’re swimming this morning.” I dove under the water with fear in my heart and pushed hard for the rest of the practice. My coach made sure I learned my lesson, and I did. Doing any less than your best doesn’t help you in the long run.

There were instances in the season where I made mistakes. I learned that everyone makes mistakes, but the best way to deal with this is to move forward with a positive attitude. Being a new swimmer, I was relatively unaware of the timing of events. I got lost in my thoughts during warm ups and nearly missed my race during the championships. Because of my coach’s convenient friendship with the official, I was able to sprint to my spot, hop on the block and swim my event. It is definitely one of the most embarrassing and scary moments of my life so far, but I tried my hardest to deal with it as maturely as possible moving forward. Swimming taught me that sometimes you make mistakes and you just have to deal with it and learn from them. Try to do it with your head held high, no matter how hard it is.

Swimming was interesting to me because it is something I had never done before. I wanted to become good at it. I watched my teammates and saw that they knew how to do things that I didn’t. This is why I taught myself breaststroke with the fundamental guidance of my coach and other teammates. Though it was not likely that I would become successful in the time I had, my coach never discouraged me from trying to learn. It became my favorite stroke and I was proud that I was able to do it. I practiced enough so that I was able to swim a breaststroke event at championships. Through this experience, I learned that you should always be in pursuit of learning new things – you should never stop searching to better yourself in anything and everything you do.

Swimming has taught me a lot. I have to thank my coach and my teammates for teaching me how to be a swimmer and for having so much faith in my potential. In the one season that I was on my college swim team, I learned more than I could have imagined. Not only did I learn about swimming itself, but I also learned about life. I learned about my capabilities and what it means to dedicate yourself to something. I would not change one thing about the season, even the most difficult parts. Though I was a swimmer for only a short time, I will carry my one season with me for the rest of my life.