Why do I swim? I don’t know, maybe I just love the water. Or maybe it’s the people I do it with, or even the thrill I get from achieving a best time. Swimming is not a sport that you can take lightly and still succeed at. You have to spend countless hours practicing, and every missed practice is a missed opportunity for greatness. I swim for two hours a day every week day, I really should start attending weekend and morning practices, but I hardly get enough sleep as it is. As a teenager it’s hard to find time for sleep, I get up every morning at 5:30, go to school, then attend swim practice, and on some days I don’t get home until 7 o'clock. I then have to eat diner and do homework, by the time that’s over it’s almost 9. For me to be able to get the recommended 9 and a half hours of sleep, I have to go to sleep at 8. Not to mention that my  internal circadian biological clock makes it difficult to fall asleep before 11PM. On an average school day I’m running on around 6 hours of sleep.

Despite the lack of sleep it causes me, swimming also provides many benefits, such as companionship, and fitness. I have made many friends swimming, and become much more athletic than I was before I started. In addition to the more obvious perks, you don’t spend 20 hours a week alongside a bunch of half naked people covered in a mix of spandex and polyester, without becoming comfortable with your body. It’s inevitable that your butt is going to get slapped at some point, and you’re going to bump into a lot of people.

One of the most common excuses that I hear for not joining a swim team is that “I’m not good at swimming”, unlike many other sports there is no maximum roster size, and most high school or club swim teams would love to have you, no matter how bad you are. Joining a swim team is actually one of the best ways to learn how to swim, you have experienced coaches who help you perfect your technique, and there are many other members of the team who have swum for a long time, and would be happy to help you.

While I may not know why I swim, I do encourage you to give it a try. See if your high school has a swim team, and if they don’t, consider joining a club team. Even if at first it seems difficult, don’t give up, just keep going and find the reason that you swim.