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Chloe Fisher

Professor Amyett

ENGL-1301-24215

5 October 2023

My State Championship

UIL 6A Swimming and Diving State Championships is one of the fastest high school

meets in the nation. It is every high school swimmer's dream to be able to qualify and compete at

this level. Little did I know I would be one of the few to have a chance to represent the Southlake

Carroll Swim and Dive team at the 6A State Championships. Coming from a small school in

Richardson Texas to the infamous Southlake Carroll High School, I was just an unknown

sophomore awaiting my chance to show Texas swimming who I was.

Walking into practice two days before the team would head down to Austin, Texas for the

State Championships I had no idea my role in this meet would change significantly. I noticed my

teammates all crowding around one another with looks of horror and mouths agape as if

something terrible had happened, little did I know something terrible had happened. I walked

over towards the huddle when my coach intercepted and pulled me aside and shared the

unfortunate news: our teammate and an Olympic trials qualifier, Riley Francis, was in the

hospital with a blood clot. Now my mouth was agape, I was in utter shock! So many thoughts

flooded my mind, how could this happen? Will she be OK? Is our season doomed without her?

As I regained my focus, I could hear my coach speaking to me. I had to weed through his banter

but it was loud and clear that with Riley out, someone needed to step up and take her place, and

given that she and I had similar events, that someone was me. How could I measure up? Riley

had competed at the Olympic trials and although my trajectory into competitive swimming was
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fast and furious, where I quickly rose through the ranks in North Texas Swimming and moved on

to dominate at the state level in club swimming, I was just a sophomore, not an “almost”

olympian. With COVID shutdowns, I hadn’t had the opportunity to compete at the next level yet.

Additionally, Riley was a senior and this was her last State High School meet and time to shine.

My coach, the king of cliches who assigned everyone a nickname, said, “Lil fishy you only need

one person to believe in you to succeed. It’s a lot easier if that person is you!” I needed to put

faith in myself, take the chance, step up, and be a leader.

The next day we headed to the University of Texas in Austin for the meet and the entire

bus ride, my mind drifted to how I would be instrumental in securing another State

Championships for our team. From the time I stepped off the bus to the moment I put on my

technical swimming suit, everything was a blur. I can remember trying to perfect every tiny

detail in warmup, I was swimming the 100 backstroke and practiced my wall starts at least fifty

times to make sure my feet wouldn’t slip. The 100-yard backstroke is a dead sprint and every

movement and millisecond counts. Being type A, I was going crazy trying to make sure I was

not going to slip up when it came time to race. It was almost time, I was called to the ready

bench, the staging area, shaking like crazy with nervousness, I took a deep breath knowing I

needed to change my mental state. I had to think positively. This was a big moment for me, after

all, I had qualified for this meet on my own accord by placing at the district and regional

qualifiers. I had worked hard for this moment and I knew that my coach and my team believed in

me, this was my moment and I was not going to let them down.

The officials called for the 100 backstroke finalists, it was time. I walked over to my

coaches for some last-minute advice, Coach Murphy pulled me in and said, “This is it lil’ fishy,

I believe in you. Make us proud.” I knew how important winning this swim meet was to him and
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I was not going to let him or myself down. The natatorium fell quiet as they marched us out to

the starting blocks. The announcer bellowed, “In lane #1, representing Southlake Carroll, Chloe

Fisher,” the Dragon fans erupted and I gave a quick wave. To add to the pressure, lane #1 was the

slowest lane assignment, and swimming next to me was my rival from my former high school

swim team Richardson. If nothing else, I had to beat her. I shook out the last bit of jitters as the

first whistle was blown. I jumped in and set up my feet perfectly on the ledge, just like in

warmup. Then the second whistle, this is when the pressure hit…here we go. “Take your

mark”...*BEEP*. I dove in, streamlined and dolphin kicked as hard as I could, knowing my

underwater race technique was my specialty so I made sure to use this to my advantage. For the

first 75 yards of the race, everyone was neck and neck, once I flip-turned off the last wall it was

clear that I had to kick harder than ever before. Breaking the surface off the last turn, I looked up

through my foggy goggles to see my entire team screaming and cheering over me in lane #1

almost as if they were about to fall in the water on top of me. This was the fuel I needed as my

legs felt like they were about to give out, just as I crossed under flags, this was it, the last five

yards. Legs dead with lactic acid, I kicked like a maniac and threw my hand back as hard as I

could to be the first to touch the wall and stop the clock. I looked up to see a blur of green and

black jumping up and down, cheering enthusiastically. I took off my goggles and looked at my

coach, with a wink and an approving nod I knew I achieved my goal. I turned around to look at

the scoreboard, 56.66 a personal best, and next to my name, the number 1. The weight of the

world had lifted off my shoulders as I began to cry tears of joy. My teammates pulled me out of

the water and embraced me. I had done it, I had won the race not just for me but for my team.

Swimming is an individual sport but in High school, it’s a team effort, a culmination of

each point earned to determine the winner. After my race, Southlake was in the lead. We only
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had one race between us and victory, the 400 Freestyle Relay. The girls swam their absolute

hearts out and as the last girl dove in we were in the lead. She touched the wall first and we had

done it, victory was ours. The feeling of pure happiness and excitement radiated through my

body, it was palpable as we all stood in silence holding hands as one team, waiting to take the

podium. The announcer once again took to the microphone “...and in first place your 2022 6A

State Champions, Southlake Carroll!” Leaping for joy, we stood on the podium together where

they handed us the first-place trophy. Looking around at all the smiling faces I couldn’t help but

notice Riley beaming alongside me. As a senior and captain, we handed her the trophy and she

held it high above her head with pride. Although she could not contribute as a competitor that

day, we would not be here without her.

Obviously, winning the State Championship with my teammates and individually

winning my event is one of my greatest personal achievements thus far; however, in the process,

I learned how to become a leader and rise to the challenge. As Coach Murphy would say, “It's

not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” I might not have been the

fastest swimmer on deck that day, but I was definitely the swimmer with the biggest heart and

greatest determination. I am forever grateful that my coach could see something in me that I

hadn’t been able to see in myself and I will carry this lesson with me as a reminder that I can do

hard things, throughout the peaks and valleys of my life.