By Jeddy Yu
The floor was cold and smooth, the air was warm and wet, it smelled of chlorine. Everyone was so noisy, yet I felt as if it was quiet. I was in my own dimension. I was in my tight orange arena swimming suit, which had indented red marks on my leg. The pool deck was cold and it numbed my feet as I walked. My stomach turned when I thought about when I was going to swim, it made me feel like I was going to barf.
“What event is it?” I asked coach Jen.
“Event 36,” she replied.
“Ok thanks.” I remember the freezing sensation of diving into the frigid Denunzio pool during swim practice. The thought made me shiver. The Denunzio pool water makes you feel numb, all the way down to your bones. I looked over to see what my swim team members were doing. Aiden was playing Minecraft, so I watched him play. He was building in his house in the village with oak planks. Time flew by really quickly, I stopped watching and went to eat my banana. I peeled it open and took a bite, it was sweet and creamy and so soft, it had so many wonderful flavors. I finished and threw the peel into the black trash bin. I went to my orange speedo bag and opened it. I pulled out a card that you show to a person and then they gave you food. I went to the counter and I showed this guy my card, he had blonde hair and was in orange shorts and an orange shirt, he also had sunglasses. He gave it back to me and then I took some goldfish. For the last ten minutes of waiting I just sat down in a chair and waited, time was passing so slowly.
Then my coach said, “Let’s go boys.”
All the boys came and warmed up by swimming in the warm up pool, it was freezing. Then all the boys went to their lane. I looked on my arm, everybody had to write their event heat and lane in black sharpie on their arm. Event 42, heat eight, lane two. So I went, I would be swimming with Arnav who was also on my team and Aiden was in heat nine. I went to lane two, the boys there asked each other their heat and we got in order.
”What’s your name?” the timer asked me.
“Jeddy Yu,” I responded.
“Ok thanks,” he responded. Heat one went, two, three, four, five, and finally heat six.
When it was finally heat seven I was shaking and my face was pale. I took off my flip flops, put my foot on the diving board, and put on my shiny rainbow arena goggles. The heat 7 boy finished so it was my turn. When I got fully on the diving board it was terrifying. I felt like there was a million eyes on me. I thought to myself,
“Don’t get disqualified. DO. NOT. GET. DQ’ed.” All the boys got on the rough diving board and everyone got into the diving position.
Then, the sound I dreaded, bzzzzz! I jumped in without thinking, even though I had already felt the cold water when my fingers entered the water my spine shivered and my teeth chattered. It was all or nothing. I swam as fast as I could but I saved energy for the second lap, I looked like a frog. I kicked my feet in kind of a circling manner and my arms pulled in towards my chest. I looked at the other lanes, even though I knew that was bad and it made you a little bit slower. I was in last place. “Well, that’s great” I thought to myself sarcastically. When I touched the smooth pool wall I knew I had to push harder than ever. So I pushed off the wall and did a breaststroke pull-out. My pull-out put me in first place but I knew I still had to swim as hard. I wanted to go to the Junior Olympics, I needed it. I finally did my last stroke and pushed really hard on the device that stops the big timer on the board, it was kind of springy and it pushed me back a little. Then I looked up and saw in bright red letters:
Heat 8 – Lane 2 – 1st- Jeddy Yu – 44.89 – White Waters
“44.89,” the timer told me. The timer always times you because you might get a soft touch which means that you didn’t touch the wall hard enough so that the device on the wall doesn’t stop the timer on the wall.
“Yes!” I thought to myself. When the next people dived I got out of the pool and put on my flip-flops, grabbed my soft black comfy SWAC towel, which is what my team was called before it was changed to White Waters, and took off my tight goggles.
“Good job,” my coach said. I cheered for Aiden and he got first place in his heat too.
“I got 42.66, that’s Junior Olympics, Junior Olympics time is 44.59,” Aiden said cheerfully.
I stood there and froze, my smile faded and my face turned pale in color, I put my hands on my face and said, “Noooo, I got 44.89.”
“Feels bad.” “Bye see you at practice,” Aiden said.
“Bye,” I replied. I got into the car and said, “Uhh I missed the Junior Olympics by .3 seconds.”
“Lol,” my brother said. I talked about the Junior Olympics incident and I honestly thought it was pretty funny and it was a learning experience for me. When I got home I promised myself I would train harder and I would keep trying until I got my desired goal, The Junior Olympics Timing- 44.59 and I remembered and never forgot. I also saw I got 9th, no ribbon I sighed, only for 8th and above. Aiden got 6th place.
“THIS IS JUST THE BEST DAY EVER!” I thought to myself sarcastically… I will get the J.O, I. AM. DETERMINED. to go to the Junior Olympics swim meet, I promised myself I would try my hardest next swim meet and keep trying until I get the time I need.