Eight years. Almost half of my life I have spent in and out of one pool or another. For half of my life I have been the “fish out of water” or one of the “butterflyin’ Hawaiian twins.” I have grown so much threw swim. Looking back I am ecstatic that my mom forced me to join a summer league swim team in 2009. I must admit when I say “forced” I do mean there was kicking and screaming and crying when I found out I was going to be a Marlin. Partially because I was (and still am) very stubborn and don 't like being told what to do, partially because I was obviously joining the wrong team, and partially because I was scared. I knew how to swim, but I had always played team sports. The idea of not having a team to fall back on or share the blame if something went wrong terrified me. You swam in your …show more content…
Without her I would not be who I am today. I would not be a swimmer. And swimming is something I can 't imagine my life without. I might not be as accepting of others. Real talk swimmers are a pretty interesting group with even more interesting quirks. I 'm sure every group has that something that sets them apart from the other groups. But what makes the swimmers swimmers is the fact that we don 't hide our quirks. We know our quirks are what make us different and special, and we embrace it without shame. We are more open with each other than any other team. We redefine turning your team into a second family. One would think only an annoying younger sibling would constantly fart on you, but that couldn 't be more wrong. Being this open with who you are also does wonders for someone 's self confidence. My friends see me everyday looking like a half naked raccoon and still stick with me through thick and thin. Swimmers are loyal, accepting, and dedicated. Who wouldn 't want to be associated with a group this strong. It 's scary to think I would have missed out on all this and more if my mom didn 't listen to her gut and actually let me pick my