By Kristin Cirulli: a 15 year old currently swimming for Cincinnati Aquatic Club (CAC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been swimming competitively since she was 9 years old. Kristin’s best events include 200 butterfly, 200 breaststroke, and 400 IM. She has competed in Ohio Age Group State Championships every season since she was 10 years old. Kristin has 3 sectional-qualifying times and hopes to obtain more in the near future. Kristin loves challenging herself inside and outside of the pool. She attends Notre Dame Academy High School in Kentucky and takes many advanced classes. She enjoys playing piano, also.
“Take your mark.” I leaned down over the starting block, preparing for my best race yet. The anxiety was building up as I awaited the loud starter to set us off like horses in the Derby. Beep! The starter sounded and I exploded off the block. I dove in to the ice cold water and kicked to the surface. This was the Women’s 13-14 year old 200 meter butterfly in the 2015 Ohio State Championships. This was my final race of the weekend and I was seated second, my lane lying right in between my best friends, Kenady and Allie. This was my last chance to earn my spot in the Northern Kentucky Clippers’ National Team.
I approached the surface of the water and I took my first stroke. This is going to be a good one, I thought to myself. I could feel it. I took a second stroke, only to realize it felt equally as great as the first. All the hard work from the past 8 years was beginning to paying off with each stroke I took. Stroke, stroke, breathe. Stroke, stroke, breathe. I continued this pattern. Before I knew it, I hit my first wall. I turned to see that I was in third. I needed to increase my pace just to the point where I didn’t use too much energy. Stroke, stroke, breathe. I could see my competition slowly inching ahead of me. Suddenly, I felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through me like a bullet. I lengthened my stroke and strengthened my pull. I was catching up. I could hear the coaches going crazy.
I reached the second wall. Halfway there, I thought. Two more pool lengths to go. I was in the zone and there was no stopping me now. The second half of the race has always been my strong point and I was about to prove that. I felt my muscles begin to tighten and weaken with each stroke I took. Thoughts entangled me, Did I take it out too fast? Am I going to fall behind? I had come too far to give up now. The National Team was just one pool length away. I got to my last wall, Allie was in the lead by a few seconds. Kenady and I arrived at the exact same time, sharing a piercing glare as we turned facing each other. We are friends outside of the pool, but competitors inside the pool.
Kenady and I had been best friends since we were 9 years old. We did everything together– many saw us as inseparable. Our friendship began to grow when our parents arranged a carpool that would help with the many rides to swim practice. When it was my mom’s turn to drive, she would come up with clever ways to make us smile. My mom would slow down as we approached Kenady’s street and jokingly tell her to “duck and roll.” Just for fun, Kenady probably would have jumped out of the car if we were going slow enough. Man, how I wish Kenady would slow down now.
Today is the day that I will beat Kenady, one of the greatest athletes Clippers has ever had. I pushed off that last wall with all the strength I could muster up. I was tired, exhausted even. I felt the pain take over my entire body. I was approaching the final wall. I put everything I had into the last few meters, not caring about the rest of my competitors, or even anything else at this point. I slammed the wall, the hardest I had ever hit it before. I turned around, just in time to see Kenady finish. I look up at the scoreboard. Relief filled my body as I saw the second place next to my name. Better yet, next to my placing was a time that was more than fast enough to qualify for the National Team.
I felt water running down my face, thinking it was pool water, but the slight taste of salt confirmed they were tears. As those sweet tears of joy streamed down my face, I hugged Allie, Kenady, and my many other teammates. I looked over to my coach as he mouthed the words “you did it.” I turned to see my mom up in the stands smiling at me. I knew she was proud. All of my hard work had paid off. It was crazy to think that all those years of training, pain, soreness, and grief had accumulated into 2 minutes and 25 seconds of pure joy and reward. I walked to my coaches to talk about the race. They had huge smiles on their faces and a new swim cap in their hands with large yellow letters reading “NATIONAL TEAM” on it. I ripped my old cap off and immediately placed my new one that I had earned on my head. My coaches congratulated me and told me I deserved it.
Swimming offers many valuable lessons that can be practiced in and out of the pool. For me, swimming is a sport that demands perseverance and devotion. Through many years of hard work, dedication, and goal-setting, I have achieved my ultimate goal. However, there are always bigger and better things. In my case, there just happens to be a cap that says “USA OLYMPIC TEAM.” Come on Kenady, let’s race.