Swimming Through Setbacks: Lessons of Perseverance and Self-Belief

I wake up. My alarm cuts through the silence like a knife and forces me out of an enchanted dream. Outside the sun has yet to rise, however for me my day has already started.

I don't want to leave the warm embrace of my bed. My aching arms resist but my motivation pushes me forward. Everything around me blends together until I leap into the water. My body is tense, waiting for the moment it hits the water. Splash. The pool is like electricity and all of a sudden I'm awake and ready.

Like magic, the numbing water changes me from an average sleepy highschooler to Richard Li, the swimmer. The next 90 minutes are the perfect opportunity to improve and get better.

Months became weeks became days as my championship meet approaches, and there are only a few days left for me to improve. This has become my life. Year after year since the age of six, my life has been a cycle of eating, sleeping, and swimming.

Get quality help now

Doctor Jennifer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Experience

5 (893)

“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

It wasn't uncommon for me to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and waking up with an aching body. I was used to the feeling of reaching for the touchpad and watching the scoreboard display my time. The feeling of adrenaline pumping through my body as the crowd screams and my teammates chant from the stands as an entire year of hard work finally pays off.

Yet, after over ten years of nothing but practice and swim meets, what I've learned most from swimming is not how to win, but about the inescapable failure that comes with the sport.

Backtracking towards the end of my junior year's championship meet. The race I've been waiting for is finally here and it's the last chance I have to make the Futures cut I've been trying to obtain ever since my last season ended. I have an entire mile to drop only 14 seconds. Every lap, every turn is an opportunity to get faster. As I hit the touchpad and stare at my time, failure develops in me until I begin to feel sick.

My plateau began to create doubt and it interrupted all of the goals I was trying to achieve. It took all of the fun from swimming and my enjoyment for the competition and sport dwindled until there was none left. I had a hard time finding the confident Richard Li, the one who had been built from over 10 years of hard work. Soon, my outside life began to be affected by my swimming. My normal joking and humorous attitude was smothered and I lost motivation in everything I did. A haven that I had always turned to in times of need was stolen from me. The thought of "Is my swimming career over?" was constantly nagging at me.

However, soon I got over this now seemingly small obstacle. One of the first lessons I learned from swimming was to constantly persevere in any situation. When I was eight, I learned to never give in to fatigue and when I was eleven, I learned to take on a second race with everything left, no matter how the first one went. The most important lesson, however, was learning that nothing could ever be accomplished without believing in myself. How could I forget who I truly was? Giving up would only fill me with regret later on.

Looking back, it could have been my coach, motivating me every single day. It could have also just been something that I couldn't see. No matter what though, I will always be proud of the fact that I kept pushing forward and never gave up. Now, I pass on to swimmers the words that I was taught when I was young "Kids, as long as you persevere, anything can be done." BEEP! Guess another day has begun.