The Best Ships

Teammates are the people that are more than just your friends. You spend hours upon hours each week with them and in some situations, like my own, you live with them. They can be both your favorite and least favorite people at the same time, and you can't imagine life without them.

Sometimes you don't even consider a teammate to be a friend. However, there is a sense of respect that you have to share in order for both of you to get the most out of each practice and competition.

If you're lucky enough to find a team filled with people you're compatible with, it can change your life.

When I was 10 years old my mom forced me to join a club swim team that swam all year. She told me to give it four months and if I still hated it, then I could quit. I cried my first 3 days of practice. I wanted nothing more than to quit. I'd think of any excuse to not go to practice. I got dressed alone in the locker room and talked to no one while we waited for the coach to tell us what to do next. Two weeks in, I made some acquaintances. Two months in, I made a friend. This friend is the reason I stuck with swimming. She introduced me to new people, brought me out of my shell, and I saw the greatness in what it was like to enjoy swimming on a team.

I have found friends that push me in and out of the pool. A few in particular stand out in my mind as the teammates and friends who made me want to go to practice every day and even do extra workouts on the side. We knew what we needed to be done to get better and we wanted to help each other along the way. These teammates helped me learn how to set a goal and work for it. When we raced, sometimes she would win...and sometimes I would win. No matter the outcome, we were happy for each other's success and more importantly- there for each other when we fell short.

It's not always the case in swimming that when you beat your friend or vice versa, you're both smiling when you hop out of the pool. Competitive feelings get in the way, it's difficult for them not to. It can get dangerous when the feelings of jealousy and anger don't go away. This is when the relationship with your teammates is put to the test. Looked at closely, a loss is a loss. You're not better than that person in that moment. If you're looking at the big picture, one loss to someone on your team is not the end of the world. Good for them. Push yourself a little harder in practice. Get them next time. More importantly, get the other team.

Your teammates are there for you to lean on when you don't feel like practicing. When you don't feel excited for a competition, they pump you up. When you feel sore and want to stay in bed all day, they understand, they want to also.

In my case, the people I've swam with over the past 13 years have been some of the most interesting, unique, challenging, determined, motivational, and fun people I've ever come across. They make the early mornings and long weekend meets all worth it. At the end of my swimming career, I'll be able to look back and smile as I remember all the people who have touched my life thanks to this sport.

"There are good ships and there are wood ships,
the ships that sail the sea…
But the best ships are friendships
and may they always be."

My First Post

When people talk about the sport they play to another, you see the light in their eyes as they talk about their time on the field/court/track, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love my sport. I also hate my sport.

Swimming requires hours and hours of gruesome training, like many other sports, but you may not see any improvement for months. If your early mornings and multiple practices in one day actually pay off, you get excited over a half-second drop in one race.

Practices are a mental and physical battle urging yourself and your body to keep going. You can't talk to your teammates because when you're at the wall, you're catching your breath to get ready for the next round.

As soon as practice starts, the countdown to when it's over begins. If you have something to think about or a good song stuck in your head, you'll be okay. If not, the practice will seem like an eternity.

However, that one practice when you feel like you're flying makes up for the ten bad practices before that. When you're leading the lane and the people next to you can't keep up- there's no better feeling. A good practice is what keeps you going. When you have a bad practice, you look forward to the next one in hopes of making it even better. Somehow swimmers are capable of pushing past the knotted shoulders, sore hamstrings, and overall aching body pain to keep going.

Somehow just having your teammates near you is good enough for swimmers. Everyone working towards a common goal makes it easier to move when you may not be able to breathe. Even though many may think that swimming is an individual sport, it is largely a team sport. When you swim and compete with your teammates cheering you on, it makes an unbelievable difference. To swim for someone makes it that much easier to go through each practice or race because you're performing for someone else.

We train and train so that when we touch the wall, we look up to see a personal best. At that moment, we don't think about what we've done to get there. We think about what we can do to get even better.

To sound cliché, a team is the best thing to be a part of. Not only do you make friends who understand you on a deeper level, but you find a new family away from home.