When I was in elementary school, I never thought that one thing could have such an impact on my life. I certainly didn’t think a sport could affect me this much. However, the summer after fifth grade I decided to join the summer swim team at Lewis Cass. That sport made me realize that anyone can become good at what they once weren’t and they can have a good workout and a stress reliever in one.

When I first joined the swim team, I wasn’t very good. I swam in lane one because this was my first time ever swimming for sport. I didn’t know what breaststroke was, and I definitely didn’t know what butterfly was. However, I soon learned, but that didn’t mean I was any better. It wasn’t until my second year on the swim team that I started improving a whole lot. Before I knew it, I was moving up and made it all the way to lane six with the fastest swimmers on the team. I was so proud of myself because I could see that all my hard work had been paying off. I then knew that this was something that I could do forever.

In junior high, practice was tougher. We were actually competing against other schools now, and I wanted to be ready. So I continued working hard and working out. Sometimes the team would weightlift, and sometimes we would run. Swimming was the best workout in my opinion. It keeps me in shape because as long as I’m swimming, I’m also eating better, running, and lifting. I do all those things to make sure my body is prepared when race time comes.

When high school came around, the workouts were the toughest they’d ever been. Even though I was a freshman, I still swam in lanes four and five because I worked so hard that I was still considered good in high school even though I was only fourteen. But swimming never stresses me out. I know that if I have a bad meet, I can still work harder and do better next time. Swimming actually relieves my stress. I quickly realized that in high school, classes were a lot harder. Harder classes usually means more homework too. But when I get to swim practice, all the stress of homework and life goes away. As soon as I jump in that pool, I am focused on getting better and making times. Whenever I’m stressed, I know I can always swim to calm myself down and help make things better.

Joining the swim team was definitely the best decision I ever made, and it’s definitely had the biggest impact on me. Not only has it made me good at a sport that I never would have even tried, it’s also made me more hardworking than I’ve ever been.