10. Swim team

[Fall 2015]

My goal was, in fact, to join the volleyball team at Davis High School. Unfortunately, signing up for sport teams is a thing you need to take care of a few weeks before the season starts, the sooner the better. I did not know that, and when I went to talk to volleyball coach on the first day of school, it turned out to be too late already.

So in order to do any sport, the only other choice I had was girls' swim team. I had a funny yet unpleasant experience at the very beginning - because of not understanding the everyday language too well yet, I confused the swim practice time set for 6 pm with 6 am. As a result I was forced to wake up my host dad early in the morning to drive me to the practice and there we were, both half-asleep, finding the way to Franklin Pool in Yakima when it was still dark outside. I was confused, yet relieved, to find absolutely nobody there. At least we could return home and have one more hour of sleep...

Anyways, I have to very honestly admit that being in a swim team was definitely not one of my favorite experiences. I found it exhausting to have an hour-and-a-half long practice every day of the week, and I would look at the clock every couple minutes to see how much time do we have left. During these practices, with my swim goggles on, I would sometimes allow myself to cry, and that was simply because I've already started to miss home really badly. Also, the everyday routine was demoting, and I still struggled with finding friends at Davis and outside it.


However, I obviously have nice memories, too. I used to have my own ritual on Mondays, the days when we would finish school an hour early than rest of the week, giving us an extra hour before the practice. I would go to Bi-Mart located right next to the school, get some treats (usually my favorite candy), and then sit in Lion's Park right next to the swimming pool and read Harry Potter in English. The weather was usually perfect, and if it was not, I would just stay at school.

As for the swimming itself, I would never take part in swim meets (or, one would say, competitions), but I attended some of them to see how it looks like. It's the swim team with which I learned about the sport teams' habit of travelling to different towns to participate in meets. So my first serious trip was to Wenatchee, or Eastmont, to be precise. We would spend several hours on a coach before we got there, and then spend another couple hours at the swimming pool itself. As I watched all these girls being truly competitive about swimming, I somewhat wished I would achieve that much in any field, but I was also aware that it's all a result of long and regular practice. American high schools offer very professional sport training, pretty much free for all students, while Polish schools don't offer anything maybe except for volleyball and basketball, one practice a week. 

Also, it's the swim team where I met one of my best friends to be there with me for the rest of my exchange program, including IB classes.
But what I appreciate most about swimming is one particular swim meet, the only one I took part in. I was about to participate in two races, and it was a very stressful experience. I imagined the mental pressure coming from my team and the coach, and I wanted to go fast so badly that I choked in the middle of the race. I swallowed a lot of water and I couldn't catch a breath. It was so bad that I swam to the wall, shook my head, and waved my hand, giving signals that I will not make it, that I resign, that I'm unable to continue the race. I was sure I let my teammates down. But what I saw and heard were all the girls standing next to me and cheering me up. "Come on, Julia! You can do it! Don't worry!" I knew it better, I can't make it. "Julia," someone said. "You can do this. Even if you are the last one. Just take your time, but make it to the end! You can do it!" Very slowly, struggling badly, I continued to the end of the lane, but needed help getting out the pool.
My team wasn't mad. They were proud and happy.

This is when I realized the meaning and the power of famous American spirit. I believe this is also when I stopped thinking the Polish way about people, expecting the worst from them, and begun to think positively about everything, including failures.
Yes, I was the last; yes, I probably did ruin the overall score of our team; and yes, it made absolutely no good to me or my team in terms of the competition. But what matters is the philosophy of not giving up and making it to the end, no matter whether it makes any further sense. And then I think of the words I learned from my mom, that you are a winner as long as you still fight. Because it's not always the score that matters. It's the resilience and the ability to stand up after a failure.