Fans Where U At???

I just attended a women's volleyball game and sat in a crowd of about two to three hundred people. Sure some people didn't stay for the whole game, maybe some just came for the free cookies, but they still sat and showed their face to the team that represents their school to other schools.

This was a regular game for the volleyball team...on a Wednesday night.  Our most important swim meet doesn't even get that many fans. (Aside from our championship meet because there are 10 teams in attendance there). Our meets are held only on weekends so there is no way homework or studying can be used as an excuse why people can't show up for a half hour or so. It makes me a little angry that we don't get many supporters, but at the same time, I understand.

I find myself getting bored watching my own swim meet sometimes. It's really only exciting when the race is a close one and one swimmer is trying to out-touch the other.

I tell people to come watch our swim meet. Come cheer us on! Support your H20unds! But then I automatically tell them not to bother because I don't actually expect them to sit through a meet, watching races where they only know a few people and don't even understand the intensity of the race.

At a football, volleyball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, basketball game, etc. you can read the athletes body language, the emotion on their face, the difference in attitude when they get a rush of energy. With swimming, all you see is splashes of water and maybe the occasional goggles tossed out of frustration or hand thrown in the air out of celebration. You can't sense the emotion in a swimmer while they are competing. That is up to their teammates. The more cheers behind their lane, the more people assume that the race is a big one. Even then, the spectators think that first place is the only way to tell if a swimmer had a good race.

Non-swimmers always ask me after a meet, "Did you win?"

That is probably the most frustrating question I receive as a swimmer. Swimmers race to race others, yes. But mainly, swimmers race against themselves. There's been plenty of races that I've won but I did a bad personal time. People don't understand why I'm upset if I won. I'm upset because I made no progress!

Not having fans just reinforces the relationship among teammates. Your teammates are your fan section. Seeing their faces when you take your first breath after touching the wall is all you need sometimes. They understand if you had a good race or a bad race. They don't question why you didn't win. They don't question if you're happy with your swim because they know you well enough to read your body language...they already know the answer.

Getting first place isn't everything, but getting a first place in your own world means everything. All the hard work paid off and you finally see the results, even if someone may have out-touched you.