Watching the Olympics this week has brought back some great memories for me. My older sister and I swam competitively from a very young age. By the time I was five, I was certified to swim alone in the pool and started competition in the eight and under age bracket. Breaststroke was my specialty, but I never developed the passion necessary to succeed and lost interest by the time I entered junior high school.
My sister continued swimming competitively through high school, garnering many gold medals and broken records for butterfly, freestyle, backstroke, and the individual medley. It was the most awesome feeling to watch her race. I was, and still am, incredibly proud to be her little sister.
Even though I stopped swimming, I’ll never forget the behind the scenes camaraderie the team formed during weekly swim meets and the yearly finals competition.
These were some of the best times of my life and I will always cherish the memories of my swimming days as well as cheering my sister on as she made history in our little part of the world.
