Today I was as proud of you as I’ve ever been. It was your first swim meet of your first year on the team. During warm-ups you became overwhelmed. The pool was bigger than your team pool and there were so many people. Hearing about how the meet would run was overwhelming, too: heats, IM, XX, DQ. You became anxious and said you wanted to leave. I understood. I was a bit overwhelmed as well; this was new to me, too. But you chose to stay.
After a few minutes, you joined your team and competed in three races, all for the first time. You didn’t win. You were even disqualified in one race (you understand why and know what to do differently next time). And you know what? I am so proud of you. You tried something new. You competed against accomplished swimmers. You pushed through your fears. And you had fun doing it. I won’t soon forget this day and I hope you won’t either. You learned a lot about swimming, but you also learned about yourself – and what you’re made of.
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