As I approached the ski lodge I knew this would be better for me. This was a break well needed and it would give me some time to think about how this decision would affect my life. When I was skiing I had the glare of the sun in my eyes, the wind blowing through my wavy hair and could really feel the hill. Today, I felt as if I was an Olympic skier. All of a sudden as I made a slight turn, my ski had lost its track. I flew into the air and tumbled to the bottom of the hill. When I woke up there was people all around me. One of them said, “Don’t move you’ll only make it worse.” I had no idea what happen. After being taken to the doctors they told me that I had a badly sprained ankle and shouldn’t put any pressure on it for at least 3 months. I thought to myself that’s impossible. I had to start training and re-gain the strength I had in my ankle. I had figured that by getting away from it all it would help me but it only hurt me. From here I knew if I wanted to keep my scholarship offer I would have to work twice as hard.
Three weeks had passed and my coach Dave, had doubts about returning to my regular form. There was a swim meet coming up that weekend and I knew I had to go and give it a shot. As I arrived and started to warm up I could feel that my ankle wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I could remember as if it was yesterday, the feel for the water, and the power I used to have is missing. This saddened me, but it also gave me a drive to better myself.
My first race was the 200-metre butterfly. I felt a tap on my shoulder when I was getting ready.
“Jimmy.”
“Hi Jennifer.”
“When you swim today, try not to make your ankle worse. How do you feel?”
“I feel like I will sink to the bottom, like the titanic did.”
“I know you can do it, but watch yourself. I know the scholarship offer means a lot to you but you can’t afford to re-injure yourself.”
Now up the men 200-metre butterfly. It echoed as it was announced throughout the building. “I have to go now, but thanks for the load of confidence.”
“Go Jim Go!” I looked at him from the stands and he didn’t look like the same old Jim I’m used to seeing. He looked like a lost child looking for his mother, instead of a fierce lion in the jungle looking for his prey. The race was over in a flash. He finished dead last, since his ankle hasn’t healed. This was his only race and now it was time to go home.
We were walking to the car and there was thunder and lightening outside.
“I couldn’t believe how bad I swam. I’m so frustrated!”
“Just give it time.”
Another three weeks had past. My ankle has improved and I’m starting to regain my confidence for the upcoming swim meet. This meet is an international swim meet and I hope to improve my place, considering, the last swim meet was embarrassing. This time I wanted to swim well and regain primacy. After all of this was over I had to make the decision, was I going to attend the University of Florida or stay at home with loved ones.
This time I went to the meet alone because I wanted to swim without any distractions. I took an exceptional amount of time to prepare for the race.
“Jimmy, you ready to go?” asked by my coach. He glared me in the eyes and dropped his head back down to concentrate. I’ve never seen Jim so determined.
Today I knew it was all or nothing. The air seemed a bit lighter and the pool seemed like a piece of glass. It was motionless about to be disrupted by eight men all striving for the same thing, victory. The race started in a flash, and ended in one. I had accomplished the unthinkable. I came back from a badly sprained ankle, won the race and made a new Canadian record in the process. It was like I was on cloud nine, which would be the only way to describe the sensational feeling of accomplishment.
After all this excitement I had to sit down and discuss what I was going to do. This decision weighed like a thousand pounds and wasn’t easy. “Mom what do you think I should do?”
“I want you to do what makes you happy.” I thought to myself and came up with my decision…………….
