Not many people understand swimmers. Actually, the only people that understand swimmers are swimmers. Not people that know how to swim, but those that have committed at least 1/7 of their life to swimming and working out.
My practice schedule :
Monday .. 5:30 - 6:30 am Lift
6:30 - 7:30 am Dry Land
4:00 - 6:00 pm Swim
Tuesday .. 4:00 - 6:30 pm Swim
Wednesday .. 5:30 - 6:30 am Lift
6:30 - 7:30 am Dry Land
4:00 - 6:00 pm Swim
Thursday .. 4:00 - 6:30 pm Swim
Friday .. 5:30 - 6:30 am Lift
6:30 - 7:30 am Dry Land
4:00 - 6:00 pm Swim
Saturday .. 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Swim
Because no one really respects how hard swimming actually is, our team doesn't really have much of a budget. We have to drive to all of our meets .. including the one in OKLAHOMA. 13 hours both ways.
And for important meets, we have to wear leg suits. These are suits made out of a sort of stretchy material that smells like tires when it's new. They get looser every time you wear it, so after one prelim/final meet, it's an old suit and not as fast. If it's the correct size for you, it will take between 10 and 20 minutes to get on. Once it's on, it squeezes you so tight, and the straps will dig into your shoulders. They do make you look skinny, but if you have anything on your body that isn't firm, but instead soft, it will get pushed to the hole in the back, and you will be a little squishy back there, so don't lean backwards unless you want extra lovehandles.
When my skin gets at all moist, you can smell the pool chemicals coming out of my pores. It's totally gross, but totally the truth. Lucky for me, my mom does hair, so I have been provided with professional grade hair products my entire life. My hair is darn near perfect, and if not .. absolutely perfect. Being Chinese, I have long, straight, thick, black hair, and usually the pool chemicals would make it dry and gross, but mine is still heavy and silky smooth.
Sometimes I have to awkwardly limp up and down stairs around campus because all of my muscles are so sore. I also fall asleep in class sometimes, because I don't get very much sleep at times. Homework at this engineering school can keep me up past midnight, and waking up at five in the morning is not very splendid. Also, my hair is wet a lot. I don't like going to class with wet hair, but sometimes there is no time to get dry before I need to be somewhere or go out in public.
The upsides to being a swimmer :
Perfect, hot guys.
Getting to eat whatever I want and still losing weight.
Having a second family and so many friends.
Meeting lots of people from other teams and schools.
Parties with people I can trust.
Staying in shape and not being fat.
No one can tell when I'm sweating.
Learning how to persevere and work hard.
Standing at the top of the podium after the 50 free.
My best friend and I wearing matching suits.
Farewell pic :
The sign in our high school commons someone made for me my sophomore year when I was the only one qualified for states.
~ Cici
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