We swam
Up and down, up and down
Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth
Lap after lap after lap after lap
The wide black line burning into our eyes
Going dizzy repeating turns.
Day after day we spent
Counting each stroke, Diving off blocks,
Timing our breaths with each stroke and turn
One, two, three, four,
Quick breath in.
Drill after drill until each stroke, each kick
Was memorized
We’d work towards speed
Sprinting, chasing the end of the pool,
Racing against ourselves.
Then race day came,
We loaded onto the bus for a windy ride
To an unfamiliar pool.
We warmed up in the crowd of bodies, with only
Enough room to make a turn and push off the wall.
The pool is cleared, swimmers line up at the blocks
Bodies shake and roll, muscles stretch
The buzzer sounds launching swimmers off their blocks and yelling from the teammates
We swim
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