Dear Swimmers: A Letter To My Younger Self and The New Generation (Archive)
By Evangelia Vasilakis, Swimming World College Intern.
Dear Younger Me and Younger Swimmers,
As I approach my last year of my swimming career, I have been reflecting on many things. Having participated in summer league, club swimming, high school swimming, and college swimming, I have experienced a variety of levels. Each gave me countless memories, triumphs, and disappointments. It is important to note that each came with different obstacles, but you overcame it all. You look upon this last year of swimming and think where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday that you were wearing your red summer league cap with your events written on your hand, wondering if swimming was the sport for you.
You will never forget how nervous you used to get before a race, how you used to stand there behind the starting block, biting your nails and anticipating the race to come. You would see your coaches standing on the side of the pool, giving you a thumbs up, and your parents cheering you on from the bleachers. When it was time for your heat, you would give a deep breath and stand on the block. You will never forget those moments. You will never forget the burning in your lungs after completing a race. The feeling of sore limbs and breathless breaths will become a normal occurrence. You will strive for that feeling of adrenaline after every race.
Swimming will show you that you have to work hard to achieve your goals. You learn this by watching others achieve theirs. There will come a point in your career where you will struggle. You will get out of the pool disappointed, exhausted, and wanting to quit. But the little voice in the back of your head remembers that you love this sport and will never feel right without it.
Mom is always there to pick you up when you fall. She helps you get stronger, she teaches you technique and helps you train. She becomes your rock in these years. You will come to realize she believed in you, even when you did not believe in yourself. You will never forget the countless hours of officiating she did to make sure she was at every meet, or how she became a coach for your group to bring herself even closer to you and the team. Even in college you will find that you look for her in the crowd, and on the deck. You never forget all that your parents have done driving you back and forth and supporting you through everything.
This sport becomes a part of you. It makes you who you are. You cannot imagine doing another sport, and you have tried learnimg that nothing compares to the feeling of the water. Eventually, you shed the anxiety behind the block and find yourself comfortable and at peace on the pool deck. You find that the line at the bottom helps you figure life out. You have had countless conversations with yourself while staring at it. Sometimes you will think the line knows you better than you know yourself. Swimming has gifted you so many memories, relationships, and opportunities. You will cherish every moment of it, because you know it will not last forever.
As I finish this letter, I want you to thank everyone who has supported you. Those are the things and moments that will matter the most. Looking back, you will always remember those moments where your parents hugged you after a race, and when your teammates are cheering for you and your boyfriend is waiting and cheering behind your block. You will always remember your family never giving up on you, inspiring you to never give up on yourself. You will look back at the end with tears of happiness knowing that this sport has given you everything you will ever need and will never regret begging your mom to let you join the swim team.
Sincerely,
Older You
Very beautiful piece. Best of luck in your future endeavors!
You are still early in your swimming career. You might just get to experience it through a different lens going forward. The fan, friend, parent, coach, masters swimmer lens. Those are all pretty great too. Take what you have learned and continue to carry your swimming career forward, even if you pause it for a while. Come back to it later, and it is still great.