A Day at the Pool

I arrived at the Tysons Onelife pool, already dressed in proper swimwear. Coach Rod told me the warm up routine, which in this case was fifty-meter butterfly, fifty-meter backstroke, fifty-meter breaststroke, then fifty-meter freestyle. I jumped into the pool and waited for my body to adjust to the water temperature. While completing the warm-up, Coach Rod went over the warm-up procedure with later arrivals.

As soon as I finished the warm-up, I noticed that on the schedule board, there was bold lettering that appeared that Coach Rod was planning for today for us to time our freestyles, with the highest record of the year being 28 seconds for 50 meters. I know that 28 seconds might be out of reach for me, so I tried for my personal record of 35 seconds. 

As all the swimmers lined up, Coach Rod went in order, starting with me. There were no expectations set for today’s class, as I was the first. I held the edge of the pool with my right hand. With my left hand, I pointed towards the other side of the pool in a straight line. My two legs compressed into a spring, and I waited for Coach Rod to give the command for me to begin. I watched the clock, and as soon as Coach Rod announced the start, I released my right hand and pushed with all my power, and I went under the water like a torpedo. 

Right hand, left hand, I made sure to take as little breath as possible, and my hands are gliding along the water like a dolphin. After reaching the other end of the pool, I knew that I had only completed 50%. I flipped and realigned my feet against the wall, pushed and turned around. After reaching the flags on the other side, I was quite tired, but I still knew that there were five meters left. With the last ounce of my strength, I pushed myself until my hand grasped the finish. Not knowing it, I completed the fifty-meter freestyle, breaking my personal record. I was astonished by my new record– 33 seconds. This is also one of the best records in my age group at the Machine Aquatics club.