200 IM
Shoulder shrug, splashing water, concentrated thought,
As the person in front of me finishes,
I can’t help but look up at the board.
Knowing what time I have to beat I enter my own little bubble.

“Step up,” I take one last look around,
Observing my competition then moving one foot at a time up on the block.
“Take you makes,” I grab the edge of the block.
My body tenses up ready for any sign to move
As I stay crunched over on the block the whole world seems frozen,
Everything thing suddenly went quit.
The water gives me an evil stare
I look back at it ready to pounce as soon as I can.

“Beeeeeeeeeeeep”
Explode, reach, fly, submerge, glide, and then emerge
The race is on.

Kick and reach,
Kick and reach,
I glide through the water.
I’m a dolphin bobbing in and out of the waves.
I see the wall in front of me,
“5 yards left,” I tell myself,
“5 more yards till I take my second breath.”
I attack the wall like a lion tracking is prey.
I twist around and start toward the wall I just came from
Doing it all over again.
Kicking and reaching over and over again.

I reach the wall with a two hand touch,
And land right on to my back.
One arm lifts out of the water
And quickly slides back in,
And then next arm.
I repeat this over and over again
Rolling my shoulders so I look like a snake gracefully twisting in the water.
I pass under the flags
And count one stroke,
Stroke two,
And then finally the third stroke.
I flip on to my stomach and flip in the water.
My legs snap on to the wall and push off.
I keep my arms in a tight streamline,
And break the still water with my arm.
I start all over again
Pushing myself as hard as I can
Once again I am under the flags
But this time I count 4 strokes then grab the wall
And turn on to my stomach.

As I hold my streamline under water,
I think to myself
“Do not lose the lead now”.
Breast stroke is my weakest stroke,
And this were I always lose the lead.
I kick pull and glide,
Over and over again till I reach the wall.
I touch the wall with two hands
And turn the other way.
When I am under the water I race to butterfly kicks,
And then my under water pull out.
Once again I kick pull and glide
Till I reach the wall.
Touch, lift my hand, kick off, and streamline.

Freestyle
This is my chance to gain everything back.
I’ve lost the lead and I’ll do anything to gain it again.
I lift my right arm then put it back in the water,
Then my left arm does the same.
I make sure to only take one breath this lap
I see the wall getting closer,
And prepare myself for my last turn.
I attack the wall like a shark killing it pray.
I push off
And push my body as hard as I can.
20 yards I can allow only two breaths.
20 yards seems longer than the 26 miles across the plains of marathon.
I punch the mat and I’m done.
Breathing deeply I look up at the score board,
2:34.75.