It’s Independence Day, and I’m sitting at the UT Swim Center waiting for Daughter B to swim. They just finished the warm up. Warm up in this pool is almost overwhelming to me…a couple of hundred (yes, I counted) swimmers all going end to end, time after time for about an hour – steady, streamlined swimming. All different types of strokes. To me they are all amazing because I can’t even begin to do what they do. (DB is trying to get me to breathe right as I swim so that I won’t drown next time I do the Danskin!) The water churns from all the commotion, but they are so disciplined and organized that they seldom even touch one another. When they all get out the pool is like glass almost immediately. I’m told this pool is designed to have almost no wake and it works!
The timeline for the meet says that 756 entries will swim in 99 heats in a little more than 4 hours. My child will compete for about 2½ minutes today. The other 250 minutes I will sit and be astonished (and a little jealous). I want to be like these kids when I grow up! They get up in the dark during their summer break. They swim for hours every day. They do core workouts. They run. They eat right and stay hydrated. They go to bed early while their friends are out late so that they can get up the next morning and do it again. During the school year many of them swim before and after school. They swim when it’s hot and when it’s freezing (like ice on the dog’s bowl freezing) in an outdoor pool. Most of them keep a pretty high GPA. They are truly incredible kids. Their dedication, discipline and determination are to be greatly admired. I’m proud of all of them – even the ones I don’t know. I’m particularly proud of DB – not because of her insanely fast times (she’s still working on that) but because of her willingness and enthusiasm to be a part of such a demanding sport that she began only 9 months ago. Her determination to improve while accepting her limitations and staying positive is a lesson to me. I’m only sorry you can’t see her…she’s the pretty one in the CP swim cap!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Discipline and Dedication
It’s Independence Day, and I’m sitting at the UT Swim Center waiting for Daughter B to swim. They just finished the warm up. Warm up in this pool is almost overwhelming to me…a couple of hundred (yes, I counted) swimmers all going end to end, time after time for about an hour – steady, streamlined swimming. All different types of strokes. To me they are all amazing because I can’t even begin to do what they do. (DB is trying to get me to breathe right as I swim so that I won’t drown next time I do the Danskin!) The water churns from all the commotion, but they are so disciplined and organized that they seldom even touch one another. When they all get out the pool is like glass almost immediately. I’m told this pool is designed to have almost no wake and it works!
The timeline for the meet says that 756 entries will swim in 99 heats in a little more than 4 hours. My child will compete for about 2½ minutes today. The other 250 minutes I will sit and be astonished (and a little jealous). I want to be like these kids when I grow up! They get up in the dark during their summer break. They swim for hours every day. They do core workouts. They run. They eat right and stay hydrated. They go to bed early while their friends are out late so that they can get up the next morning and do it again. During the school year many of them swim before and after school. They swim when it’s hot and when it’s freezing (like ice on the dog’s bowl freezing) in an outdoor pool. Most of them keep a pretty high GPA. They are truly incredible kids. Their dedication, discipline and determination are to be greatly admired. I’m proud of all of them – even the ones I don’t know. I’m particularly proud of DB – not because of her insanely fast times (she’s still working on that) but because of her willingness and enthusiasm to be a part of such a demanding sport that she began only 9 months ago. Her determination to improve while accepting her limitations and staying positive is a lesson to me. I’m only sorry you can’t see her…she’s the pretty one in the CP swim cap!
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