Personal Narrative: My First Day Of Practice In High School

It was my first day of practice for high school swimming. There I was- a scrawny freshman, idolizing these upperclassmen who towered above me. Being the only freshman in my class, my coach had me train alongside these giants. I remember the countless morning practices, which always involved grueling endurance sets, where my teammates lapped me constantly while I struggled to make the intervals; feeling disappointed in myself, but determined to continue working hard in order to catch up to my teammates. However, even those grueling workouts could not compare to Christmas break that year. A whole week of practices that were near impossible for my teammates, and absolute torture for me. I will never forget one set from that week. It was a set of 32x150s with a descending interval every four. By the last eight, I was no longer making the interval and struggling to keep up with my teammates, who ended up lapping me, as usual. But I still put every ounce of effort I had into that set, and swam every lap long after everyone else had finished. I challenged myself with a fierce determination to
I looked up to them, in and out of the pool. It was hard to keep up during the impossible practices, but I knew I had to push through it to reach their level, and I did exactly that. I pushed myself farther than I ever thought possible and I will never forget the moments when I realized that I achieved my goal to become as good a swimmer as them. Not only were they role models in the pool, but also in how they acted out of the pool. The sense of family created by them was truly what made me love swimming throughout these years. The welcoming and supportive atmosphere helped me build confidence in myself, which ultimately helped me come out as gay to them first. I will never forget the feeling of acceptance that I felt around them, and as a senior now I make sure that that sense of family is even stronger for the next