Spani Pool: A Return 3 Years Later
This weekend, I went to Spani Pool to watch my brother swim. It had been 3 years since I last was there, and when I was there last time, I was leading off my team in the freestyle relay in provincials. We came 6th. After 3 years, I thought I would take the time to reflect on what has happened in those 3 years since I swam in my first (and last) provincials.
2017: After placing 6th in Provincials after having been through a dream season, I thought that things would go up. After all, I would improve, and next years group of swimmers were destined to be contenders for a provincial championship. Although the group of swimmers were highly competitive, I ended up only placing 4th in my club in the 50m freestyle and nothing else. Technically, in a freestyle relay, the top 4 swimmers from a club make up the relay, however, the coaches went with a swimmer who had more experience than me. Therefore, another spot in Provincials was open because my cousin had qualified and would not be swimming it. If you took out all the people who had already qualified for provincials, I would be the fastest swimmer to fill the spot. However, the coaches went with a slower swimming to fill in his spot instead of giving it to me. I remember telling the coach that IF I qualified, I would be going to provincials, and his words to me verbatim, were "Okay good, I'll need you in provincials". To this day, I am still not sure what he needed me for. One thing I'll always remember is seeing the team I could've been on, swim to provincial silver. I always envisioned myself on the podium with those guys, but maybe that was the problem as I never should've. I wanted to be there for her.
2018: After a disastrous season like the last one, I decided to give it one final shot. The team this year would be exactly like the team back in 2016, which meant that we were good, but not contenders for the top. After amazing meets throughout the year, regionals struck, and I was placed on a team where we finished last in both relay events. I always remember throughout the season telling myself that I would make it to provincials and that this would be the make up for last year. However, one of the swimmers on my team got sick throughout the whole month and did not attend any meets. Had he attended, our relay would've gotten the chance to swim in White Rock, but instead, we never got to see how good we would've been. I remember at regionals during the freestyle relay, just looking at the clock because I never thought the season would end this way. Going to provincials, after looking at some times and projecting our times, its possible that we could've ended the season with provincial bronze.
2019: After the way both the previous seasons ended, I decided that swimming was not for me and decided not the return to the club for a 6th season. There were 2 amazing chances to strike at a golden opportunity, and unfortunately, I had missed both. If I could go back, I should've told myself that 2016 would've been the year (and only year) where things came together, and maybe I should've quit while I was riding a mile high. Unfortunately, both seasons where things could've been amazing ended at the same place. I always wanted to be there to show her I could do it and maybe change her mind, but unfortunately, the opportunity never came.
2017: After placing 6th in Provincials after having been through a dream season, I thought that things would go up. After all, I would improve, and next years group of swimmers were destined to be contenders for a provincial championship. Although the group of swimmers were highly competitive, I ended up only placing 4th in my club in the 50m freestyle and nothing else. Technically, in a freestyle relay, the top 4 swimmers from a club make up the relay, however, the coaches went with a swimmer who had more experience than me. Therefore, another spot in Provincials was open because my cousin had qualified and would not be swimming it. If you took out all the people who had already qualified for provincials, I would be the fastest swimmer to fill the spot. However, the coaches went with a slower swimming to fill in his spot instead of giving it to me. I remember telling the coach that IF I qualified, I would be going to provincials, and his words to me verbatim, were "Okay good, I'll need you in provincials". To this day, I am still not sure what he needed me for. One thing I'll always remember is seeing the team I could've been on, swim to provincial silver. I always envisioned myself on the podium with those guys, but maybe that was the problem as I never should've. I wanted to be there for her.
2018: After a disastrous season like the last one, I decided to give it one final shot. The team this year would be exactly like the team back in 2016, which meant that we were good, but not contenders for the top. After amazing meets throughout the year, regionals struck, and I was placed on a team where we finished last in both relay events. I always remember throughout the season telling myself that I would make it to provincials and that this would be the make up for last year. However, one of the swimmers on my team got sick throughout the whole month and did not attend any meets. Had he attended, our relay would've gotten the chance to swim in White Rock, but instead, we never got to see how good we would've been. I remember at regionals during the freestyle relay, just looking at the clock because I never thought the season would end this way. Going to provincials, after looking at some times and projecting our times, its possible that we could've ended the season with provincial bronze.
2019: After the way both the previous seasons ended, I decided that swimming was not for me and decided not the return to the club for a 6th season. There were 2 amazing chances to strike at a golden opportunity, and unfortunately, I had missed both. If I could go back, I should've told myself that 2016 would've been the year (and only year) where things came together, and maybe I should've quit while I was riding a mile high. Unfortunately, both seasons where things could've been amazing ended at the same place. I always wanted to be there to show her I could do it and maybe change her mind, but unfortunately, the opportunity never came.
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