Over the weekend, I competed in my last collegiate swim meet. Swimming has been a large portion of my life and finishing my competitive career in college was bittersweet. It was an emotional event for all of the senior swimmers during the final session of the meet. I was extremely nervous before my last event which was the 200-yard backstroke. There were so many thoughts going through my head about it being my last race, I was afraid I would not be able to swim as fast as I was capable of and would leave having regretted some part of my race. Our team was also in a tight race for the conference championship so we needed every point possible which added pressure to performing well in the event. In the end, I dropped three seconds from my prelim seed time to my final time and set a new personal record and maintained my position to help score points for the team. It took me a while to realize that I was officially done with my swimming career. I am not sure that I have fully come to comprehend how much different my life will be without swimming taking up a major portion of my time.
The 100-yard butterfly was my main race in high school and college, and when I finished my last 100 fly I was extremely emotional. Being done racing the 100 fly was a hard pill to swallow it was by far my favorite race and you can bet that every once in a while when I get in a pool I will swim a 100 fly just to see what I am capable of doing. The 100 fly was the only race that I swam throughout all of high school and college which is why it holds a special place in my heart.
Swimming has not completely left my life, I plan on coaching after I graduate and hopefully sharing some of the joy that I found during my career with others. I will also continue training in the pool for triathlons, especially as I train for Ironman Arizona. The fact that swimming is a sport that you can do for your entire life makes the sport all the more enjoyable and I would not trade the time I have spent in this sport for anything.
Swimming has given me so many memories that I will take with me and cherish for the rest of my life. Swimming has brought me pain, tears, happiness, sadness, but most importantly, it has given me the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people and it has brought me some of my best friends. The chapter of my competitive swimming career may have closed but as I come close to graduation I am looking forward to starting new chapters of my life and creating even more memories. I am sad that I am done swimming in college, but I am so thankful that I stuck it out through all of the early mornings and difficult practices because I love the sport of swimming.
Duggan,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what you are currently going through. When I was in high school, I played every sport my school offered. I thought about throwing shot and disc on the ONU track and field team, but I knew I could not make the time commitment. The thought of moving onto college without the daily practices felt odd. Imagining my life without sports was difficult. When I came to ONU, I tried to join the club volleyball team, but I did not make try-outs. That's when I had to realize I would most likely never play sports again. It was difficult at first but now, I find it as a relief. I miss sports from time to time, but I know I have those memories, and I can focus on other things I enjoy. I think one day you will feel this way as well.
I think swimming is a very interesting and difficult sport. I sure know I could not do it. Congrats on ending your swimming career with success and good luck on your future to come!
Crystal
Duggan, it is crazy to think that you are done with your swimming career here at ONU. it seems like yesterday we were coming in as freshman and just getting started with academics and sports. I think it is cool that you plan on coaching some time when you finish your schooling. Good luck with the ironman Arizona.
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