The Swimmer!

The Swimmer!  784 words

It was going to be tough.  I knew that but I thought I stood a chance so I was going to enter the race.  I’d always been a good swimmer so I thought, why not?  I think I might have had second thoughts if I had known how many were going to be here and some of them looked pretty impressive too.  I was smaller than a lot of the other entrants and I think that puts me at a disadvantage but it’s no good thinking like that.  I’ve got to visualize myself winning that’s what I understand winners do.

Trouble is, I don’t really feel like a winner but I’ve got to keep telling myself I’m a winner, I’m a winner, I’m a winner!  Believing in myself and saying yes,  this is a race I know I can win.  But I had no idea there would be so much competition and it doesn’t seem to be helping me much to keep telling myself I’m a winner.

I suppose if the prize is as good as what’s on offer here today then it will bring the number of entrants up because a prize like that doesn’t come every day so what the heck I’ll just hang on in there and hope I get lucky.

Any time now we’ll be setting off.  All of us eager for the start then before we know it we’re off!  Well, I’ve never swam in what I would describe as open water before but I soon realized this is going to be a very hard swim.  It feels like I’m swimming uphill as I jostle for position and then there’s the drag, the pull but I just swam and swam and cast everything but winning aside.  If I was to stand any chance I knew I had to stay focussed.

First I passed one, then another, then another, but there were still so many in front of me.  Then tiredness hit me and I thought I would have to give up but no I must have got a second wind or something because next thing I had passed a whole group.  Mind you it’s strength sapping this swimming against the backward pull.   The pull is something I just didn’t expect but still I keep going and going, doing everything possible to maintain my position before striking out to overtake another group.  I don’t know where I’m finding the strength to battle on but somehow I manage to dig deep and find reserves I never knew I had.

All the while I’m swimming I keep asking myself what would a winner be thinking now.  I answer myself; by staying focussed on the ultimate prize.  Yes, that is what I must do.  I must not allow tiredness to keep me from my objective.  I keep repeating to myself you can do this, yes, yes, you can, you’re a good swimmer but all the time I felt as if I was being pulled backwards.  This kind of swimming saps the strength in a way that can’t be imagined. I never thought it would be like this.  I didn’t think there would be so many of us either but that is competition for you.  Even so, I swim on because I’m determined not to throw in the towel just yet.

By this time a lot of the weaker ones had dropped back and I just kept wondering how much further before I would have to admit defeat and drop back.  I was really feeling tired by this time and I thought at this rate I’m not even going to finish because I just felt I was being pulled back all the time.  Swimming like this is something I’ve never experienced before and it’s really, really hard.  I never imagined it would be like this.  No, I’ve got to stop being negative and thinking like this and do my best to stay focussed.  Winners are never negative. 

Oh, I can see the prize now and I’ve got a second or is it a third wind because I’m going for it.  Yes, I’m really going for it.  Now I’m this close I start pushing others out of my way.  Nothing is going to stop me now not when I’m within spitting distance of the prize.  I race towards it swimming flat out now and I will allow nothing to pass me.  I take a quick shifty round and see I’m way out in front and then I’m there.  I’ve reached the prize and soon I’m inside.  Yes, I’m inside and all the others can clear off because I’ve won, yes me, I’ve fertilised this egg and I declare myself The Winner!