Leo Mercer
My greatest achievement
Word Count: 359
As I step up to the block I can’t help but think to
myself: “have I done enough?” Before any big swim meet I can’t help but have
this thought rush through my head. All of the grueling practices, dry lands,
and lifting weights have prepared me for this moment and I can’t help but think
“have I done enough?”
I was a senior in high school so it was my last year
on the varsity swim team and I wanted to do something special. Every year there
is a meet called METROS where every high school in Montgomery County comes
together to compete. This meet is a pretty big deal for and since it was my
senior year I wanted to do something special. My training was going great until
the end of September when I encountered a huge set back and caught mono.
When I had mono the doctor told me that I couldn’t
swim, exercise, or workout for fear of rupturing my spleen. I was devastated. I
knew that if I wanted to perform well at METROS that I had to train as hard as I
could. By the time my mono was gone, I had not been exercising for two and a
half months. Now I only had about two months to prepare for this meet and get
myself back into competition shape. Instead of looking at it as a problem however,
I took it as a challenge and came back with a vengeance.
Those two months were the most intense months of
training of my high school career. I went to every practice, dry lands, weight
room, and even something extra here and there. I was determined and driven. When
it came to METROS I still thought to myself though “was it enough?” It turns
out it was. This meet was the best meet of my swimming career. I dropped time
in every event and even qualified for a swim meet that took me to Orlando Florida
to compete. This meet was really impactful on my swimming career and has given
me a whole new level of confidence in myself and in my training.
The point: if you put in the work it will be
possible for you to achieve your goals
