"take your mark..." The whole sports school fell silent at the signal.
For weeks, I have been training for this very moment.
Then "Go!" Immediately, everyone started cheering. "splash!" I plunged into the cold, salty competition pool. After a few sharp butterfly kicks, I emerged from the water surface and took a deep breathe. My arms swung forwards pulling water towards me. In this way, I propelled myself forward, with the help of my legs. The race was on. There was no time for hesitation. Leaving everything behind me, all my nervousness and anticipation. I swam towards my goal.
It all lasted less than a minute. My arms felt like falling off. My lungs felt as though they were ready to explode. But I had done it. I had completed the 50m freestyle competition.
As I followed the other competitors out of the pool, I felt a sense of achievement and relief. Achievement because I had completed the race, and relief because ever since I entered the Singapore Sports School, I had felt as though there were butterflies in my stomach. Now that the competition was over, there was nothing to be nervous about. It was as though a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders.
On the diving block, I recalled having a mixture of emotions- of fear, nervousness, and excitement. Nervousness came naturally to me because this was a new experience. Fear probably because of the conversations with my other teammates about getting disqualified by the officials due to slight movement on the diving block, and excitement because this experience was somewhat similar to that of the Olympics.
This experience has enabled me to compete with the best of the best swimmers in Singapore. Forever, this new experience will be etched in my mind.
