The water is calm and undisturbed, not a ripple in the pool. A rush of ice water envelopes my body as I dive into the pool. I open my eyes and wait for them to focus in my new environment. As I come up for air, 1 smell the strong scent of chlorine around me. As I begin my first set of laps, water rushes into my mouth as I come up for air, the taste of chlorine is soon stuck in my mouth. Half way through my second lap, I hear the sounds of splashing and what sounds like cannonballs as people begin to dive into the pool. As I come up for air, I feel my arms weakening from the physical activity.
I notice a burning sensation in my eyes as the chlorine begins to make my eyes tear. This feeling will soon go away as they adjust to the chlorine around me. “Alright, everyone on the edge! ” My coach yells We make our way over, as we prepare for our warm ups. “Count off into groups of three, we’re doing change of direction. ” Coach says “One, two, three, one, two… ” We push off the wall, position our bodies, and get ready to swim. BEEP. The whistle blows and the water erupts as we take off. BEEP. We switch directions and begin swimming. BEEP. Again, we switch directions.
After a few minutes of intense swimming, he sends us over the the shallow end where we have a few minute to rest, as the second group begins. At this time, my arms feel heavy from the sudden activity. Just as I begin to catch my breath, coach yells for my group. I’m soon swimming again. As we finish off our warm ups, I feel my chest on fire and my arms and legs exhausted, as I tread in the deep end. Can humans push their body’s limits farther than they know? My belief is that when you reach that point of exhaustion and you feel like you can’t go any longer, that’s your mind telling you hat you’re tired, when in reality, your body still has more to give. People have experienced this feeling in numerous occasions.
The most commonly experience is adrenaline; that feeling when you’re scared shitless and you move faster then you ever thought possible. Another example is when you’re so tired you think you can’t go my further, but when you see the end is near, you’re body puts out that extra burst of energy. This raises the question, can we push our bodies limits further than we know? As I tread in the deep end, exhausted, I wait for our next drill.
“Get the balls out of the water and bring the goal in! Coach yells Everyone cheer, we all know this means we’re gonna scrimmage. Anticipation builds as coach passes out the caps. I get handed a white cap, I look around, pleased with who’s on my team. We separate to our sides of the pool and wait for coach to toss the ball. The pool erupts as every single person explodes towards the ball. White has the ball. We quickly swim to position, adrenaline masking my exhaustion. Man on man we tread water. The ball gets passed around before its thrown towards me, I catch it and am soon attacked by my opponent trying to get the ball.
I kick my legs harder underwater, getting up big and forcing my opponent back. I see an open teammate and pass the ball away. Instantly, without the need to protect the ball, my legs give out underneath me as my adrenaline fades. I soon realize how tired I am. As time winds down, my energy depletes even more. Each stroke is agonizingly hard as the water seems to be thickening around me. The opposing team takes the ball. We sprint to position and get ready to defend. Exhausted, I struggle to tread water. The ball is passed around, I notice my opponent is just as tired as I am.
I see commotion in the corner of my eye and turn to see that my teammate has stolen the ball. Instinctively and fueled by adrenaline, I sprint towards the goal. The feeling of fatigue suddenly fades from my body as my mind focus solely on the ball and the goal. I see the ball tossed through the air and throw my arm up to catch it. Still on my adrenaline high, | pump my legs to get my body out of the water. I take a breath and shoot. As the ball passes through the goal, as rush of relief and pride fills my body. Instantly the pain of exhaustion courses through my body as the adrenaline fades away.
I swim over to the side of the pool as the whistle blows, out of breath, arms heavy, and my legs dragging behind me. Can we push our bodies limits farther than we think? I believe so. My proof? This experience. For me, adrenaline and the thirst for winning kept my body pushing. Where I would normally give out and reach my limit, my body kept going, temporarily ignoring the pain and fatigue. The situation may vary, but the outcome is the same. When you are given no other option, your body WILL push past its limits.
