A Farewell to Club Swimming: You Will Be Missed
I was a child who had endless energy, loved to feel the water on my skin and after my first race, wanted more. The pool was mine. I jumped in and poured all that energy, escaping into a place very few go. Even though I played several other sports along with swimming over the years, the pool was my home. There were soccer practices, lacrosse games, and cross country meets mixed in with the ever constant swim practices. However, time and time again it was always club swimming that stayed as my steadfast companion.
At the beginning of every school year, when my teachers would ask what everyone did over the summer, I was eager to share how my club season went. Everyone else gave short answers about family vacations, or how they hung out with friends at various places. Then there was me. I gushed about swimming at Age Group Champs or the Central Zone meet, and the fun times I had with the people I met and places we stayed. I was proud to let everyone know I spent every second of my days devoting myself to swimming. For me, I would not have had my summers any other way. My parents sacrificed numerous family summer vacations to give my sister and I the opportunity to swim and grow in the water. For that, I am forever grateful.
As I outgrew age group swimming, and entered high school, club swimming took on a different role. I wasn’t always happy in the pool and needed to find a way to feel the water hug me again. My anxiety, which had always been present, began to control me, turning a once joyous activity into one that I dreaded. I chose to move on and join another club team in an effort to save my relationship with the sport. I was met with open arms and plenty of support by my new coaches. Slowly, over the course of a year, I began to find my love for the water and club swimming again. I know I am not the only swimmer who has driven an hour or more each way for a practice. When you are devoted, you do it. And this time around I committed to a club that was not terribly close to home. However, because of the positive experiences I had there, this club became close to my heart, and was definitely worth the drive.
This past weekend, I swam my last ever club swim meet. It was a long time coming. I missed out on any club swimming the past two summers and now this was it. My last opportunity to dive off the blocks, and feel the water in the club setting that started it all. I did not expect to go out with a bang, but with my main focus this summer being on other things, I came pretty close. After all my injuries have put me through, I was not far off my best times. Although I am sad the end of my club career has come and gone, I will never forget the people, lessons, sets, pools, and the chlorine cough that seemed to take down all of us by the end of every meet. I am forever grateful I got to experience these things. As the weekend of racing came to an end, I let myself purchase one last overpriced Illinois Swimming swim meet sweatshirt, for old times sake.
Thank you club swimming.
