By Lillie Hawker
Participating in a high school sport at a school in which you don’t attend is nerve-racking and stressful. But, it’s also making a new network of friends. It’s getting the chance to be a part of a team that one school doesn’t provide.
Swimming had been a big part of my life for five years before my freshman year of high school. And even though Mount Vernon High School doesn’t have a swim team, I was fortunate that we had an agreement with Cedar Rapids Washington that let me swim on their swim team.
Before my first swim team practice at Cedar Rapids Washington freshman year, I was incredibly nervous. I was nervous about getting around at Washington, while also being worried about how all these girls, that I did not know, would perceive me. What if they were mean, what if they didn’t like me, what if I don’t know how to get to the pool, what if the coaches are scary? I was a nervous wreck.
In reality, I was worried for no reason. The girls were kind, the coaches were great, and I figured out how to make my way around Washington. It only took a few weeks to feel like I belonged on this swim team.
At Washington, I’ve gotten to grow as a swimmer. From getting faster and improving my technique, to the physical and mental strength that I’ve gained. Throughout the last two seasons, I’ve gotten personal records in my best events, 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, and 100-meter breaststroke multiple times, thanks to the amazing coaches at Wash.
One thing I’ve learned through swimming at Washington is that I can be thrown into a new environment with new people and survive. I’ve learned that I do have the ability to create bonds with strangers and make friends. These are friends that I stop and talk to when I see them outside of swim. Some of them I know closer than some of my friends at MVHS, whom I have known since kindergarten.
Swimming for Wash has been such a great opportunity for me, and I hope it gets better. Here’s to two more years of Swimming for Wash, more new friends, and improving myself as a swimmer.
