Parting Thoughts: An Ode To College Swimmers On Senior Day
Parting Thoughts: An Ode To College Swimmers On Senior Day
As many college swim teams celebrate and honor their seniors, I reflect upon the experience of college swimming.
Senior Day is bittersweet.
It's your last dual meet. You are excited but anxious. Actually, you don't know how to feel. On one hand, you feel accomplished -- as you should be -- because you are on the verge of finishing four, or in some cases five, years of college swimming, which is no easy feat. You are fired up as well, because you're about the swim the 200 medley relay and it is business as usual. But you are also feeling somewhat emotional and oddly nostalgic. Is it all over? What's next? Why are my parents on deck? Oh, yeah, it's Senior Day.
You know this is the last time you are going to race in the pool that you spent countless hours in while staring at a motionless black line -- back and forth and back and forth. But it's also the pool where you spent countless hours developing friendships that will last a lifetime. There is something special about slugging through miserable VO2 max sets or cranking through hour-long kick sets that make you wish you had a broken ankle and couldn't kick anymore that forms a deep bond between human beings. Who knew?
This is the pool where you zoned out and pondered the deep questions of life, questions that probably ranged from "How are babies born?" to "What is at the bottom of the ocean?" to "Why do we dream?" Of course, it's also the pool where once you snapped back into reality from la la land, you suddenly asked, "We are doing this set HOW MANY times? Is that a thee or an eight? I think the water smeared the ink… I think it's a three… I hope it's a three… Nope, it's an eight."
Talking about bittersweet? This pool has been your prison and your sanctuary. It has been the place where you have struggled, and it has been the place where you found peace. It seems like an oxymoron, but the more you think about it the more fitting you realize it is. This pool was your home for four years, and your teammates have been your family. With a family, you take the good with the bad. There is love and hate, anger and joy, confusion and relief. But at the end of the day, you would never change a thing.
To the underclassmen, college is undoubtedly the time in your life when you will have the most immediate friends. Want to grab dinner? Boom, so do 10 other teammates. Bored on a Sunday afternoon because you're not studying? Great, you live with five of your best friends.
Cherish it and don't let go. Because one of these days you are going to be the senior standing up there, waiting for your name to be called and still wondering why your parents are on deck. Oh, yeah, it's Senior Day.
It's your last dual meet. You are excited but anxious. Actually, you don't know how to feel. On one hand, you feel accomplished -- as you should be -- because you are on the verge of finishing four, or in some cases five, years of college swimming, which is no easy feat. You are fired up as well, because you're about the swim the 200 medley relay and it is business as usual. But you are also feeling somewhat emotional and oddly nostalgic. Is it all over? What's next? Why are my parents on deck? Oh, yeah, it's Senior Day.
You know this is the last time you are going to race in the pool that you spent countless hours in while staring at a motionless black line -- back and forth and back and forth. But it's also the pool where you spent countless hours developing friendships that will last a lifetime. There is something special about slugging through miserable VO2 max sets or cranking through hour-long kick sets that make you wish you had a broken ankle and couldn't kick anymore that forms a deep bond between human beings. Who knew?
This is the pool where you zoned out and pondered the deep questions of life, questions that probably ranged from "How are babies born?" to "What is at the bottom of the ocean?" to "Why do we dream?" Of course, it's also the pool where once you snapped back into reality from la la land, you suddenly asked, "We are doing this set HOW MANY times? Is that a thee or an eight? I think the water smeared the ink… I think it's a three… I hope it's a three… Nope, it's an eight."
Talking about bittersweet? This pool has been your prison and your sanctuary. It has been the place where you have struggled, and it has been the place where you found peace. It seems like an oxymoron, but the more you think about it the more fitting you realize it is. This pool was your home for four years, and your teammates have been your family. With a family, you take the good with the bad. There is love and hate, anger and joy, confusion and relief. But at the end of the day, you would never change a thing.
To the underclassmen, college is undoubtedly the time in your life when you will have the most immediate friends. Want to grab dinner? Boom, so do 10 other teammates. Bored on a Sunday afternoon because you're not studying? Great, you live with five of your best friends.
Cherish it and don't let go. Because one of these days you are going to be the senior standing up there, waiting for your name to be called and still wondering why your parents are on deck. Oh, yeah, it's Senior Day.