By Siobhan Dale, Swimming World College Intern
Awards are often defined simply by what they are. A gold medal is a victory, a silver medal is a disappointment, a bronze medal may be a relief. But there’s a story behind every award. Often times we ignore that story and instead focus on the medal rather than the person wearing it. But there’s significance to each story that a swimmer has to offer, regardless of whether that swimmer is wearing a gold medal, a bronze medal, or even no medal at all.
Here are five examples of the different types of awards that swimmer has to offer, and what exactly those awards may mean to the sport and to the people receiving them.
1. The Participation Award
This one always felt a bit like a rude joke. But each and every person in each and every sport has received one of these. No matter how corny or how lame we might think this certificate or blue ribbon is, we should be proud of it. We are a participant in the sport of swimming – that’s the best award swimming has ever given me.
2. The Second Place Medal
Whether it was at a dual meet, a state meet, or a national one, this one always hurts. We desire gold and we’ll dutifully accept bronze…silver though, we’re afraid of silver. Afraid of the almost it seems to scream at us. I’ve had moments where I couldn’t even look at silver. Until my sister won it one year at our high school state meet, and I realized that there was a lot more to the person than just the medal hanging around his or her neck. And that was the first time I have ever been more proud of silver than I was of gold.
3. The Relay Medal
You would think that seeing three other people accomplish the exact same thing as you, would make the accomplishment a little less special. But really, those three other people are the ones making the accomplishment meaningful.
4. The Non-Existent Award
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yang Lei
Maybe you got this award because you messed up? Maybe you got this award because you just weren’t as good as everyone else? The point is you didn’t get an award. And it hurts right now. But in a few days, or months, or however long it takes, you’re going to look back on this meet and realize that despite not getting an award, you were able to get something else. A chance to be on deck with some of your best friends. A chance to stand behind the blocks and make new ones. A chance to swim.
5. The Gold Medal
Yeah. This one feels pretty good.
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Fay Salam