1 Kinzeler

Lauren Kinzeler

Professor Tim Waggoner

English 1101

29 Septemeber 2021

District meet

Countless hours of practice, sweat, and tears led me up to this moment. At Miami University,

the aquatic center was filled with swimmers who all had different goals. The common goal was

to make it to state, and if you were going to you had to do it on this day.

I was behind the block before my event 100 backstroke, and looked over and saw the nerves

flying through the girl next to me. She was preparing, stretching, and shaking them out. I look

down farther and there 6 other girls doing the same thing as her. My focus shifted towards the

stands and I saw my friends dancing and pumping me up, you could see the excitement on their

faces. The natatorium was loud, all you could hear was whistling and yelling until the official

blew his whistle revealing it was my turn to swim.

The loud turned into quiet and 15 seconds later the heat jumps in the pool alongside me. The

water was so cold but very serene. The air smelled very fondly of strong chlorine. My mind was

unintentionally filled with doubt and I was trying to shift my mindset. The crowd went silent and

the official states “take your mark” followed by a beep. I push off the wall and stare at the

ceiling for exactly a minute and a second, occasionally looking at the bottom of the pool during a

flip turn.

I look straight up at the blackboard with glowing letters that had my time posted. After seeing

it I immediately started crying. I tried to lighten up while giving the girl next to me a high five, but

It was very hard. I could taste nothing but the dryness of my mouth. I used everything I had left

to push myself out of the pool. I walked over to the small crowded warm-down pool, all I could

think about was my dreadful performance. I had added 2 seconds which may seem short but is

everything in swimming. My time was not going to make it to state there was no chance.
 2 Kinzeler

I swam behind and in front of a swimmer just barely forming a stroke. I moved to the wall and

sat there as I watched the swimmers flip in and out of the wall. In conclusion, I had a rough

meet because the environment and seriousness of that meet stressed me out.