Personal Narrative- Anna

Phuket Swim Meet


“BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,” the alarm sounded next to my bed. I opened my eyes and climbed out of bed. It was 5:00 in the morning and I was pretty exhausted, since I had to wake up early yesterday as well.
I pulled on my racing suit, still half awake, and managed to pack my bag and get ready. It was the second day of the swim competition in Phuket. Today, I was swimming one of my best events- 50 meters breaststroke; only one lap. I had a chance of getting a meet record and butterflies were filling my stomach.

When my team arrived at the swimming pool, we had a couple minutes until warm up. I used this time to re-hydrate myself- it was really hot here. I wasn’t used to this heat, and my arms and shoulders were peeling and burned.

Soon, it was time to get ready for my race.

The officials were announcing, “50 meter breaststroke, girls, please come down to the pool deck.”

Right as I was being called to wait for my race, I saw my coach. “Go for it Anna”, he said. “You can win this.”

I did some light stretches and then sat down to wait for my race. I was so nervous; I could hear my heart beating inside me. As all of the other 11-12 girls swam, time started to speed up.

Before I knew it, I was standing before the diving blocks. I heard whistle and climbed onto the block in a starting position. Arms bent and grasping the block, legs in 90 degrees position.

“Take your marks-“ a voice boomed. I remembered what my coach said, and then before I knew it, I heard a loud BEEP and dove into the pool.

I did my first stroke, and water gushed around me. It seemed like a dream; the water was so blue and I could hear faint voices screaming my name; probably my parents, or my coach.

I swam to the other side as fast as I possibly could. I could see that I was ahead of everyone, which made me swim even faster than I thought I could.

I hit the wall and looked at the time board- 39 seconds! That was not only a meet record, but also it meant a gold medal for me!

I climbed out of the pool, exhausted, but too excited to even notice. My coaches and parents congratulated me right away and gave me high-fives. I was so proud of myself, but still remembering that more hard workouts were to come in order to beat this time.