Swimmers, take your mark...

This past Saturday was my first swim meet as a member of the U.S. Master's Swimming, Inc. I will admit I have been nervous about this meet for the past two weeks. Every night it was the last thing I thought about as I drifted off to sleep and one of the first things that popped into my head in the morning. I envisioned myself diving off the block and I thought about every move I'd make in the water. As I'd think about these things, my body would automatically tense up as if gearing up to swim at that moment. It was an exhausting two weeks. But finally Saturday morning arrived and as I guzzled water and shoved bananas into my face, I knew that all of my hard work and determination would pay off.

Amber, my loyal swimming buddy, and I arrived at the Rose State College pool with a literal entourage. Husbands, family members, and friends were there to cheer us on as we prepared to compete for the first time in several years. Mom & Ryan drove up from Texas for the weekend just to be there to support me. Grant took the day off of work to be my cheerleader. Veronica even dropped by on her way home to Kansas for the weekend. Encouragement like that is not always easy to find and Amber & I definitely had the biggest fan-base there. How could you not want to swim your heart out with devotion like that?

When we entered the pool area, the crowd was a sparse one. Amber & I kept throwing each other looks of, "Is this a joke? We brought this huge group of fans for this?!?". The pool was small, the swimmers even smaller in number, and the entire feel was a very relaxed one. Not something that is typical if you've ever been to a swim meet before. Our group of fans left to eat lunch as we took our designated hour to warm up. During this time we met up with our church's youth pastor and realized that his wife was swimming in the meet. She gave us the run-down on how things would go and what to expect. I swam several laps and gained confidence as more swimmers showed up and I realized we would have a decent turn-out and I'd have some people to race!

I swam four events: 50 freestyle (2 laps), 50 breaststroke, 50 backstroke, and 100 (4 laps) breaststroke. I was very pleased with how I did in every event. Unfortunately, I can't remember what my exact times were for each event so I'm waiting for Masters to post them on their website. The one event that actually surprised me was my 50 backstroke. That was kind of a wild-card event. I don't enjoy backstroke and haven't competed in it since I was in junior high. I was extremely nervous before the race and even thought about tapping out at the last minute. Thanks to Amber's encouragement to "just go for it", I swam a surpisingly good race. I had a little bit of a rough start off the block and even got a cramp in my left calf muscle but knew I had to push on. Before I knew it, I was in the lead and actually ended up beating two men! That particular race really made me happy. I also did well in my 50 breaststroke. I was up against a rather tall woman and if you can imagine, height can actually work to your advantage in swimming. I was a bit nervous about swimming against her but KNEW that since breaststroke was my best event, I had to give it my all. I swam my hardest and could see from the corner of my eye that I was staying with her, which felt great being half her height. I just kept telling myself "PULL! PULL! PULL!" as I finally hit the wall tenths of a second behind her. It was an extremely close race and I felt very accomplished, having not let her size ruin my "show".

All in all, it was a great day. I was able to show off in something that I absolutely love doing. There is no better feeling than the adrenaline rush that washes over you as you climb onto the block and hear those words, "Swimmers, take your mark...". I was reminded of how much my family and friends care about my passion and more importantly-me.