State Meet

State Meet
My ears hurt from all the noise around me. Everywhere in the stands people cheered at the top of their lungs. I could feel the electricity in the natatorium at this meet. The familiar scent of chlorine made my stomach twist and turn as it always does before I swim. The only problem: I wasn’t swimming. My freshman year I could only watch state from the stands like the parents and the other swimmers who didn’t make it. My times from freshman year just weren’t fast enough to get me to this prestigious event. I wanted to be down on the pool deck more than anything at the time. Being there to watch it made it that much worse. I felt lucky enough to be able to sit and watch other people do what I wanted to do. Watching my events seemed like seeing the thing I most wanted at the time dangled in front of my face, just inches out of my grasp. It made me want to leave the instant I arrived. During the 50 freestyle, my favorite event, I turned to a fellow swimmer...