How to become a competitive swimmer!
                  

1. Use the perfume known as “chlorine”.
      
        We all know that distinct, mildewy smell that creeps up your nose as you walk into an indoor pool. Better get used to it, because your body might as well be made out of it. A competitive swimmer usually practices about six days a week. Chlorine is constantly in our hair, our skin, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in our blood too. Don't be the kid that nervous sweats at school during tests, because about ten people will shriek "WHY DOES IT SMELL LIKE A POOL IN HERE?! Don't get the idea that Bath and Body Works will fix this problem, because trust me, it won't.

2. NEVER finish your practice cool downs.

       Normally, after a gruesome practice, to get your heart rate back down and at rest, coach will throw out 300 yards of warm down. This is SUPPOSED to mean twelve laps of leisurely paced swimming to finish off a rough three hours. But what does it really mean to the ones in the pool? About 75 yards of underwater somersaults, bubble rings, and pretending you're being productive, because doing another twelve laps after the main set, is like Spongebob getting his driver’s license: It’s never going to happen!

3. Know the 4 stages of the 200 yard butterfly:
     Butterfly
     Buttertry
     Butterwhy
     Butterdie

        In swimming, the stroke of butterfly is the most challenging. This stroke is different than all the others; it feels as if you’re fighting the water: unnatural. Fifty five percent of professional swimmers would agree. Why? It requires you to use your arms like airplane propellers, your legs faster than Wilma Rudolph (3 time Olympic gold track star), and to savor your oxygen as if you're climbing Mount Everest, just to finish with a decent time. If your coach puts you in this event, you're obviously not on his/her good side!

4. CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE!
Your weekends now may consist of going out and about with friends, a sibling’s soccer game, and lots of extra free time. Be prepared for all of that to change, because competitive swimming requires many hours of training. It does get tiring. By Saturday morning practice you feel ready to drown. But when a meet rolls around and you finish a race with a new best time, the I-can’t-get-out-of-bed 6 am practices are all worth it.

5. Comprehend the "whiteboard" as your worst enemy.

         A typical practice consists of coach giving us a warm up, a couple small sets, and then, the dreaded main set. The main set is always written on the white board and many swimmers would describe it as having their death basically being written out for them. An example of a main set would be something like: Six 200 yard IM’s, followed by 1000 yards of freestyle. When the Expo marker comes out, you know you’re in for a real “treat”. Although the whiteboard is probably at the top of our “What we hate about swimming list”, slacking during the main set can be the difference between placing first and placing second.

6. Dress to impress!

To become a competitive swimmer, you have to have an excellent fashion sense. Forget Marc Jacobs and Tory Burch, we always show up to the pool in our trendy Speedo suits, parkas, caps, and goggles. Sure, they’re not what’s in the West County Mall windows, but if you walk into practice not wearing any of these, YOU will look like the uncanny one!

7. Understand that “being tired” is NOT a thing!

It may be hard to believe, but swimming is one of the hardest sports there is, and training to compete is no walk in the park! The sets you are given are sometimes incredibly intense and tiring, but you have to tough it out at practice in order to be the best at a meet. The best mind set is thinking about how tired you would be if you had to do the set multiple times. That should keep you from complaining, but if all else fails, the trick we use during a set we can't handle is: "May I go to the bathroom?".

8. Have motivation!

Swimming is challenging even if you have a passion for it, and quitting is very tempting when you’re trying to pull through a tough event or set. When you’re in the pool, going as hard as you can, when you can feel your arms and legs giving out, your lungs bursting, your throat burning, muscles cramping, (but wanting to win so badly),  you need one thing: Motivation. When at a tough practice or struggling with an event, just think: “If I keep up with this training, if I win this event, I could be in the Olympics one day, and I could become rich!” At least that’s the way most of my teammates and I think about it…

9. Be able to tolerate your coaches and teammates [aka your second family].

When you’re involved in the sport of swimming, it can feel like it’s taking over your life. You are training on a regular basis and surrounded by the same fifteen to twenty people for six out of seven days. You create a special bond with your teammates and coaches that is unbreakable; you become a family. Who knew a group of people could bond over bleachy smells, sweaty weight rooms, 5 am swimming and extreme joint pain?

It feels euphoric to be apart of a swim team/family. But we all know 99% of the time, families get on each others nerves. Whether it’s your coach pulling you from an event, the person in front of you losing track of the interval and messing your whole lane up, or the team voting YOU to be the first one in the water to take the lane lines out, you have to tolerate them. Yes, you’ll like some more than others, but at the end of the day, everyone on your team is making you better. Some motivate you, like the girl with the freestyle time that’s one second faster than yours. Some encourage you, like your friends at the other end of the pool cheering your name while you’re racing. You all suffer together through the hard practices, and all laugh together through absolute craziness. Example: Practice car pools. You may hate to admit it sometimes, but you love all of them to the moon and back.

10. Know that you and ONLY you will be touching the wall first at the end of the race!

         Being competitive and having grit is the most important thing to become a swimmer. When you're about to dive off the block for a race, you're in a zone that only another swimmer would understand. You have an indescribable mindset. All that's running through your mind at the point of competition is: "I'm going to touch the wall first, and I'm going to beat my best time". But once you take your mark and set off, thinking about anything but winning the race is not only useless, but impossible. Sometimes, the hard work and dedication pays off and you feel victorious. Other times, you find out you’re going to have to work 10x harder at practice the next week. But no matter what, once you finally touch the wall, get out of the pool and look at your time, your next priority is always cheese fries.