Editorial content on SwimSwam is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of SwimSwam.
Swimming is a team sport.
Those who have told you otherwise are wrong.
The biggest mistake you can make thinking of a swimmer is that he is alone.
Individual goals, individual medals, individual processes and dreams don’t make this sport an individual sport.
The swimmer believes himself alone, but a swimmer is never alone.
He lives moments of loneliness, constant and daily.
In the water he feels lonely, on the block when the thoughts are too many or maybe they are too few. In the continuous search for the perfect shape or perfect race does not look to anyone but himself.
He doesn’t go on a field where ten other people await him. His mistake cannot be justified by a wrong pass or a shot out of the way.
In training, there’s no time to know if there are two, three or ten in the lane. You know that there are others only if you have to stay on their heels.
Loneliness is sometimes scary and is a thought you try to avoid until life throws it in your face.
That’s when you look for a foothold. Something to hold on to so as not to drown. Because even if you can swim, staying afloat is the most difficult thing. It is the daily challenge, it is the survival of the individual.
A swimmer always has an handhold.
And that’s what not everyone understands. In a sport founded on individualism, the swimmer has the grip called
TEAM
A different team from the collective imagination.
Often for a swimmer, the team is the one closest to the concept of family he can find.
My team. My second home made of normal people within your reach as long as you are out of the pool, then entering the pool everyone takes on his role: the Captain, the Dry Power, the redeemer, the one who arrives first and always enters last.
Each of you within the “Family” has a role. An importance and a purpose.
There is a bond that goes beyond training, the race, the perfect season.
It’s the hand stretched out beyond the wall, the one that pulls you out when the water seems to reach the throat and not let you breathe.
It’s not about level, medals or talent.
The family you find is not always the one you choose.
And when you feel part of something, accepted and supported then that’s where you feel you’re worth something. Not because you’re the fastest, not because you’re the one who’s always there, but simply because are you.
Whether you are a veteran, an example or a beginner.
Whether you are talented, extrovert or always silent.
Remember that you also have a role in your family. And as long as there is a role there is belonging.
One for all. All for one.
