Yesterday I received the news that I had made the Western Zone Championship Team.

My greatest fear since I started this season was that I would have a repeat of my first year of swimming.
I was trying to get a few cuts for JO's at the Last Chance Meet, but missed them by a few 100s of a seconds. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my swimming career.

It's amazing to think that two seasons ago, I wasn't able to qualify for a County Championship meet, and now I'm going to be competing against the best 1% of swimmers in each western state of the US. i don't think that I would have gotten to this point, without support from my Teammates, the discipline of my Coaches, and the over all inspiration that my loved ones have given me. I revet to say that one of my closest friends wasn't able to achieve the cuts for his age group, and gender. I hope that he will not only achieve his goals next season, but go far past them. 

I'd like to shed some light on Long course JO's.

I started competing on Friday, and may I just say, warmup was quite crowded. Let’s just say, most of the swimmers didn’t enjoy it. ( XD ) The races went smoothly, I got my first Zone in the 200m Back-- I think it was Friday, at least, placing 4th overall, I believe? I finaled in my other race, and placed well. 

Saturday: Went well, missed my zone in the 100m Backstroke, but finaled in all my events, and placed 3rd overall in the 100m Back.

Sunday: The final day! The relief of the meet being over soon to come! The finish line in sight! I missed the 50m Backstroke Zone in prelims, but battled to the wall in Finals, achieving the cut. We all know the feeling when you don’t do as well as you’d like to in a race, and feel like your world has crumbled beneath your feet. My advice; Pull through it, and pick up the pieces. With a little bit of glue, you can stitch yourself back together. Don’t let yourself fall apart that easy. Our relays did well, too. 

Photo Highlights: 

(Left to Right) Austin, Taylor, Robbie, and Jaylyne. Plus Grant in a chair, and Cory in the background. 

(Left to Right) Maddie, Elise (Swim fast! Miss you already!), and Caitlyn

Negative Mind Chatter

Let's talk about a little thing I like to call, "Negotive mind chatter".

We all have it. And as much as you'd like to think that, you "Really can't do it", or, "Your horrible at your sport", we all have to remember that it's just a story in our heads.

I cannot count on hand how many times I stepped up on the blocks and thought, "I didn't train hard enough" or, "Why do I even try", or even "I should just quit now".
And everytime I repeat to myself, "that's just a story in my head.". I feel like every word is another brick in my backpack. Whenever I hear these words, I imagin them just sweeping off of my shoulders. As my coach has always said, it's all about the mindset.


I'm currently at JO's, I will be posting photos later on.

Sorry for the short post.

Best regards,
-Dolphina