(Written by Megan Kingsley)
The best kind of people dream to be a part of something bigger than themselves – something bigger than they could ever imagine, and something that is powerful and life changing. For some of us, that was to be on a collegiate swim team.
We fight the daily fight to give up when our alarm goes off at 5 am, but there was a reason that we set that alarm in the first place. We turn our back on what is known to be comfortable and safe, and what some people might call “common sense.”
We know the easy way out will always be there, but we can feel our competition, fears, and doubts breathe down our necks and we drown out those voices by remembering what we are fighting for. We know that winning isn’t by mere luck or accident but is made up of sweat and tears that prepared us.
Swimming is one of the toughest sports because it is a year round sport, six days a week, with up to five hours of training a day.
Personally we sacrifice so much, and are required to simultaneously be good students as well as athletes. There have been a plethora of practices where I have been mentally, physically and emotionally challenged and I ask myself, why do I swim?
Swimming isn’t just a sport, and a team isn’t just a bunch of people who train together. Swimming is a lifestyle and a team is a family and it is a true blessing to say that I will always have my teammates, my family. One cannot completely grasp the feeling of being on a collegiate team, being a part of something bigger than you, where you have to put the team on your back.
The feeling is undeniably the most rewarding and fulfilling feeling that could not be replaced. It is not just a team, and the people I share a lane with are not just teammates. They are my best friends, my family, my number one supporters, and the people who pick me up the instant after I ever fall down. Swimming in college is the most incredible and once in a life time opportunity, and it is truly an honor to represent my school.
I am blessed to be on the University of Georgia’s woman’s swim team. I have swam on a few teams and in Charleston for three years, and they have each taught me something important about life and swimming, and have also had a large impact on my career.
My coaches have always pushed for me to be something more than just a person or even just a swimmer in life, but to succeed in every aspect of life, and to strive for my goals. I definitely would not be the person I am today without the coaches that believed in me.
I have been swimming competitively since I was eight years old, and my parents could not get me out of the water.
I have wanted to go to Georgia since I was nine and it took nearly ten years to fulfill this dream, but that was not all that it required.
This dream required me to face the fears that I wasn’t good enough to go to Georgia and that was one of the hardest things I had to overcome.
The fears don’t stop though—we all fight these daily battles against ourselves and honestly it is hard to not just give up, but giving up doesn’t make for a successful swimmer.
I was injured in 2012 after the best season of my life and the pain came back in my first year of collegiate swimming. We discussed surgeries and I was held back from doing things everyone else could do; it was heart breaking to even talk about it. It was already hard enough adjusting to a new life and a new team that it tore me down to a point that I was convinced did not want to compete anymore.
My physical injury was not the worst thing that happened to me this past year, but it was the damage to my attitude and my faith. I felt like I had been having bad season after bad season for a few years and I assumed everything would change when I went to the school of my dreams. I felt like I was not an important part of the team because I didn’t perform as I had wanted to and the injury only made it worse. I had lost my faith when I needed it most.
My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”, and ironically I had forgotten all about it.
I had mentally decided I was going to receive surgery no matter what, so I went home to do physical therapy for two solid weeks before returning to school to have surgery.
Surprisingly, I got stronger but my attitude was still negative and I chose to not believe that I could be getting better.
I had a great friend who reminded me of how much our attitude mattered when things happen to us—it would make or break you.
I realized that I needed to have a better outlook on my situation and my life, so I tried being happier and positive. In two weeks my pain went away completely. It seemed unbelievable, like a miracle.
Sometimes you have to fall down to know where you stand, but I could not be standing without my family, coaches, my best friend and my team. They are the reason why I swim, and I will always be indebted for their support and belief in me.
