I remember in 2012, watching the Olympic Trials in Omaha, I told myself that four years from that moment, I'd be in the championship final of the 200 meter breaststroke. That is not going to happen. When I was just a young boy, I told myself that when I get big and strong, I was going to make the Olympic team. That is not going to happen, either. In fact, I have my Olympic Trials cut, and I'm not even going. When I think about it, yes, it makes me sad. I start to think about how upset my 12-year-old-self would be at me for not going, but I burnt out. My training was consistently going downhill, as well as my performance at meets, which completely broke down any motivation I used to have to go to practice. It made me hate swimming. I really despised it for the last few months of my career and it made me feel like an absolute failure. But, now that I have been out of the pool for a few months, I have realized something very important. I have realized what swimming has given me throughout the years. These are things that, yes, I and many other swimmers may have been born with, but swimming is the one thing that showed us we have these skills and characteristics.

Something happens to you when you are pushed to physical limits you never thought possible. Especially when you are pushed in the same manner over and over and over again. You learn that a chain reaction happens. First is the physical limit. You step over the line you didn't think existed during a set, and you keep going. You then step into a mental barrier. You build mental toughness. This then results in an experience that has an emotional effect on you. When you are consistently pushed to different physical limits, something happens to your soul and to your mind that can change you as a person, for the better.

Relentlessness.

Maybe the sport of swimming attracts a specific type of person, maybe it makes people like this. Maybe it's both. But one thing I know is that I will not quit or give up when it comes to something I believe in. This is true of a large majority of swimmers. It's a special sight to see 60+ swimmers doing a set together, the look of absolute suffering written all over every one of their faces, and not a single one quitting. Guts feel to be tied up in knots, and you can feel the heat coming off of your lane-mate's face as they spit some of their lunch into the gutter. And three seconds later, you're all going again, side by side. It doesn't sound like it, but it's an amazing thing. There is something ingrained in us that makes it nearly impossible for us to quit. Because we know that if we do, we will be kicking ourselves for it 30 seconds later.

Discipline.

I did some punk stuff when I was younger. But as I got older and swimming became a larger part of my life, I realized what it was going to take to get better. Because of this sport, my sense of discipline grew stronger and stronger as I got older and my swimming moved to higher and higher levels of competition. It taught me that being disciplined will result in improvement and fulfillment.

Focus.

When I am engaged in a training exercise, it is easy to find myself focused on completing that task and nothing else. Whether this be in the pool, the weight room, or, now, running up a steep trail. Your eyes focus on one point and you just go. Swimmers can attack the task at hand with a ferocity many others cannot. Our minds are trained every day in the pool and in the weight room to do this. Physical pain almost seems to vanish, and comes surging back as soon as the task is finished. Over time, it becomes something we are able to use outside of the sport as well.

Passion.

Hearing the phrase "all you care about is swimming," was common for me in high school. In some ways, it might have very well been true. Every day, a majority of my day was taken up by swimming. Thinking about it, reading about it, practicing it, dreaming about it. The one word to describe how I felt about the sport was passionate. And as I grew older, I noticed that I became increasingly passionate about many things outside of the pool. Friends, family, current events, my future. Swimming gave me the ability to completely immerse myself into something with compassion and love, which has strengthened my relationships, values and beliefs, and my personal well-being.

There is one last major thing that swimming gave me that I cannot be more grateful for, and that is my family; my best friends and my teammates. I don't care how cliche it sounds. Because of swimming, I have what I know will be lifelong friendships. For the past four years, my best friend and I get to see one another maybe two or three times a year, yet we remain best friends. I've talked with people who have told me that they have faded away from their high school best friends long ago. To me, that is not possible. My best friends now will be my best friends when I die. How is this possible?

Relentlessness. Discipline. Focus. Passion.