High School State Swimming Meet

On saturday I drove up to the twin cities with my dad to attend the Minnesota high school state swimming meet. The meet was an awesome experience, with the fastest, most amazing swimmers from all over the state going "for the gold." I wasn't very proud of my swimming season this year, so I came to the meet looking for some inspiration and pointers that would help me perfect my technique. I was especially amazed the freestyle sprinters. The state champion in the 50 freestyle swam a 20.61, and the champion in the 100 freestyle swam a 45.34. (All times are in seconds). For comparison, our high school records for the events, respectively, are 21.28 and 47.47. This may not seem much slower, however, in the sport of swimming, a half a second is an eternity. Many olympic races are won by a tenth or even a hundredth of a second. It has been an aspiration of mine to break the school record in the 100 freestyle, and now after seeing these great swimmers, I have more resolve than ever to become one of those larger than life swimmers standing on the podium, humbly receiving a medal around their neck.