Caleb Atkins

The Benefits of Hard Work and Persistence

            I was twelve years old and it was the first year I had a chance to qualify for the biggest meet of the season; Age Group Championships. I spent hours in the pool training every day and swam harder than all of the other swimmers in my age group in each practice, but I was still slower than most of my friends in swim meets. I wanted more than anything to be the fastest swimmer in my age group but it wasn’t happening at the speed that I hoped for. It also didn’t help that I was shooting for the qualifying times for the age group above me because my birthday was only days before the big meet that I was trying to qualify for. I had one more meet before Age Groups and it was my last shot at making a qualifying time.

            The week before the regional meet my coach started to taper us and I was extremely excited. I was doing very well in practice that week and even my coach, who didn’t pay much attention to me at the time, noticed how well I was doing.

            I remember walking into the newly built Christiansburg Aquatic Center and seeing its intimidatingly brand-new racing equipment. That weekend I would only have one or two chances to swim each race and get my time cuts. I was worried on the inside but I wouldn’t allow myself to believe it.

The allotted time to warm up had started so I jumped into the crisp cool water and began to swim. I felt good in the water and thought that there was no way that I wouldn’t make my cuts for Age Groups.

            When my team mates and I were done warming up our coach called us all in for a meeting.

“Today is your last chance to get your Age Group cuts. All of you need to get out there and swim harder than you ever have before. If you don’t, don’t bother coming to see me after your race,” he said in a deadly serious tone.

            The first race that I was to swim that weekend was also my best race; the 100 Breaststroke. I knew the time that I had to go and I thought about those five intimidating numbers over and over again. 1:11.79. That was the time I needed to go.

I walk over to my coach and ask him how he want me to pace myself in the race.

“Take it out as fast as possible!” he says.

“What if I lose my energy in the first half of the race?” I ask.

“Push yourself!” he answers.

            I walked up to the now-towering blocks that sat in front of each of eight lanes and waited for my heat to be called up. While I was standing there waiting to race I recall imagining the perfect swim and how it would feel. It thought that it would feel like I was zipping through the water like a jet flies through the air. I imagined what it would be like to go as fast as a jet in the water and laughed until I realized that the heat before mine was in the water. I stepped onto the block in lane four and prepared to dive in.

“Take your mark,” The starter said in their usual electronic voice.

The beep sounded and I dove in full force. I started out in the water with a faster first half than everyone else in the lanes around me. In the middle of the race I felt better than I ever had in the water and I kept going out strong. The last 25 of the race came around and my entire body was suddenly made of lead. I powered through the pain but I could feel myself losing momentum and speed. It was like that perfect jet I had imagined was then crashing to the ground. I touched the wall to finish and looked up at the score board with an overpowering sense of hope. I didn’t make the time. In fact, I was more than an entire second off the time that I had hoped for.

            I went to talk to my coach and he told me to go cool down and talk to him afterwards. I numbly swam a 500 and got out to go see what he would have to say.

“Don’t worry! You’re sure to get a cut in at least one other event this weekend!” said my coach in his usual enthusiastic tone.

            As the weekend went on I kept swimming races and again and again I missed the cuts by mere hundredths of a second. I was crushed after seeing the orange and black scoreboard after my last event, the mile. I had again missed the cut by one second. I thought that I would never achieve my goal and would always reside in a state of limbo where would always miss the cuts by small margins.

I remember the idea of quitting crossing my mind but I threw it out and continued to work. I let the emotion behind not making a cut drive me to swim harder in practice. I continued to train even though I had no meet to train for.

            After short course ended I had four weeks to rest before the long course season started. During the break between seasons swimmers don’t usually swim because they like to take advantage of the one time a year they don’t have to swim, but I didn’t rest. I continued to practice about three or four times a week so I wouldn’t have to spend the first half of the long course season getting back into the shape that I was in at the end of the previous season.

            The long course season started and I was already faster than I had been at the end of the short course season. I couldn’t believe it! I was even going my best times in practice! I practiced with the same rigor and determination for the entire summer.

            At the second swim meet in long course I made almost ten age group cuts! I had gone into the meet expecting the usual but to my surprise, I destroyed the standards I had set for myself. I was so extremely excited that I worked even harder until Age Groups where I would place top five in the state!

            Now I am almost fifteen and close to qualifying for national level meets. I have continued to work just as hard as before and it has continued to benefit me in many ways. I learned at that swim meet two and a half years ago what committing myself to a goal and working towards it could bring. I’m very happy with my swimming successes and I’m forever thankful to the younger me for never giving up hope.