By Alexis Dalton
I’m writing this right now with no voice.
A 3-day state swim meet + horrible air quality + asthma + cheering on teammates is the perfect equation for having a voice that’s only appropriate for the library.
As Lovett’s many student-athletes know, it is not easy balancing school and sports (and homework and sleep and the occasional Netflix show and dinner table conversation), especially when sports includes both Lovett and club teams.
I have been swimming competitively for twelve years, but I have been fully committed to swimming for only about three years.
When I was four years old, I started swimming in a summer league program and realized I really liked to swim (and I was good at it). Eventually, I joined Dynamo, a club swim team.
When I was eight, I started playing softball which I continued doing until eighth grade when I tried volleyball, and let’s just say volleyball wasn’t my thing (ask any of my old teammates, who probably blamed me for a few of our losses).
After many years of doing another sport alongside swimming, I realized that swimming was the sport I enjoyed the most, was the best at, and wanted to pursue at the highest levels.
I quit softball and volleyball and turned my focus to moving as fast as I can in extremely chlorinated pools.
Over time, I transitioned from attending three to four afternoon practices a week, when convenient for me, to going to eight practices a week, two of which were at 5:15 in the morning. Let’s just say that waking up at 4:30 AM twice a week was decidedly INconvenient.
But, as I devoted more and more of my time to swim, I saw more and more improvements.
The more I improved, the higher level of training I did. I got moved into the highest group at Dynamo where I am now swimming with Olympic Trial qualifiers and Division 1 committed swimmers.
However, faster times aren’t the only thing that comes with fully committing to swim. Packed schedules, stress, and feelings of being burnt out are some of the other treats that come with it.
My schedule–my life–revolves around my practices and meets, and if I’m not at school, you’ll probably find me at the pool or in the weightroom.
Most days, I leave for school around 7:00 AM and get home around 7:30 PM. On days when I have morning practice, I leave my house at 4:45 AM, go to practice, school, back to practice, and then back home around 7:30 PM.
Of course, when I get home I can’t immediately sit down and start my homework. I have to unpack my bags, shower, and eat dinner. By the time all of that is done, it’s about 8:30.
Ideally, I start my homework at 8:30, get it all done in two hours, and then go to sleep, but after a long day, it’s hard to be efficient (and don’t get me started on the distraction of social media).
I end up doing only what’s due the next day, and I put off things that are due later in the week for another night so that I can get more sleep.
On the days when I’m totally efficient with my work and stay off my phone (which is rare), I’m in bed at 10:30 and asleep by 11:00. Usually, I wake up around 6:30, so I get about 7.5 hours of sleep.
But remember those twice a week 5:15 AM practices? Even if I am super efficient with my work and go to bed around 10:30, waking up at 4:30 gives me 6 hours of sleep on a good day.
Now do that all over again, but with less sleep than the night before. Getting less sleep causes me to be more tired, therefore less efficient, and I go to bed late again and repeat the cycle.
And that schedule does not mix well with more practices and meets with Lovett swim.
Though some details of my student-athlete situation are unique to me, the overall experience is not. Replace swimming with soccer or lacrosse and switch out the practice times, and there will still be the same things: Packed schedules, stress, and feelings of being burnt out.
So why do we put ourselves through this instead of just doing a sport to Lovett?
Some people are extremely passionate about their sport and want to get as much of it as possible… one team isn’t enough for them.
Personally, I do Lovett swim for the experience, and club swim for college.
Since Dynamo has difficult, high-stress practices and meets, Lovett swim is fun and refreshing, and it reminds me how much I love swim.
Dynamo is also a great experience, but it’s more focused on preparing and training me to be recruited for college and become a college-level swimmer. And so I spend an insane amount of time in a cold, chlorine-filled pool, looking at the world through fogged goggles, and occasionally losing my voice.
