Blog post by Ahtziri Meneses, Class of 2021

The smell of chlorine and the excitement of the meet builds. Everyone is getting ready for events and the cheering begins as the swimmers are behind the block, ready to dive in. Swimming is a sport consisting of the strokes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. This sport takes a number of skills that require hard work and practice. Each stroke requires certain skills in order to perfect it. Overall, it is a sport tackling a variety of abilities that are developed as they work hard through their practices and improvements.

Although swimming develops skills of strokes, it also helps guide and develop enriching talents as a person. Leadership, time management, and persistence are talents applied to the swim team as a leader and as a player. As a leader, it is important to have leadership skills to guide your team through the need of encouragement and advice on how to improve. Everyone is a team leader regardless of expertise. Time management is another key factor that is an integral part of the sport because there are time-based sets that are according to a swimmer’s speed. Having these time-based sets provides improvements to be made at both practices and at meets. Lastly, persistence is key because having the mindset of believing that you can, means a lot and sets an example to all swimmers. In the end, a great meet is when improvements were made and a positive mindset all the way through.