A Swim Meet to Remember

A Trojan swimmer recalls his anxious first try at the 500-meter race.

Matthew Mckenna
The Odyssey
3 min readMar 17, 2021

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Photo by Marcus Ng on Unsplash

Rematch at CVHS

Last season, our season opener was an away meet at our opponent’s pool. After a long bus ride full of shouting, laughing, and even a little sleep, we arrived at Coachella Valley High School. We had beaten them in the previous swim season with a much smaller team, but I couldn’t get too cocky because just like how our team had grown, theirs had, too. Unfortunately, their team still wasn’t large enough to fill every event, unlike our team, which had the advantage from the start.

As our coach was going over the game plan, she realized that a swimmer was missing.

This information got the team pumped and ready to give it our all, so we quickly changed and got ready for warmups. The warm-ups weren’t that difficult, and the team got through them pretty quickly. The meet was slowly getting nearer and nearer, and I was so nervous I felt like I was about to vomit. However, this feeling didn’t get any better because as our coach was going over the game plan, she realized that because a swimmer was missing, we now had no one to do the 500-meter event.

Next Swimmer Up

She quickly assigned the event to a first year swimmer that had good endurance, but for any swimmer the 500 is a daunting event, and he wasn’t sure if he could do it. The coach then asked me if I wanted to do it, since I was the only one who wasn’t already entered in the maximum amount of events. As much as I wanted to say no, I didn’t want to put pressure on the first year swimmer, so I reluctantly agreed.

Trojan Swim 2020. Photo courtesy Coach Pessa.

Now, on top of the 100-meter fly event, a very difficult event that I was extremely nervous for, I had to swim the longest event of the meet as well. When the 100-meter fly rolled around, I was shaking on the diving block. I heard the blow of the whistle and sprung myself forward into the water. My teammates won first and second, and I won third, not bad for my first time. Up next, however, was a race I wasn’t expecting to ever take part in.

Taking on the 500

My muscles were tense from the fly event, so I did a quick cooldown and waited anxiously for the 500, which was only three events after the fly. Everyone participating in the 500 was doing it for their first time, and my team was winning the meet by a long shot, so I was able to calm myself before the race. Once again on the diving block, I heard the whistle blow, and I plunged into the water.

The race seemed to go on forever, but strangely I felt amazing, almost as if I were just doing a light warmup for practice.

Just as I had been coached, I took it nice and slow, making sure to pace myself. The race seemed to go on forever, but strangely I felt amazing, almost as if I were just doing a light warmup for practice. Before I knew it, the bell letting me know I was on my final twenty-five meters rang. I was so shocked that I was already on the final stretch that I thought the bell must be for someone else. I gave everything I had, and ended up winning first place.

I was so excited, I shouted to my coach, “Please always give me this event!” From then on, I was assigned the 500, and I never regretted it.

Matthew Mckenna is a varsity swimmer and member of the Class of 2021. He is anxious yet excited for what the future holds.

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