Swim Meet... SOL 6 (3/6/15)

My head buzzes, replacing my thoughts with a seemingly never-ending sound of white noise. I can't feel my arms and legs as I sit, tight with nerves, as my heat gets called.

This is what it feels like at a swim meet. I've been to a lot of them, and I still get nervous. Well, I have a good reason to get nervous for this one. It was my last meet with a chance to qualify for State. I had been working hard all week, but it seemed pretty tough to drop 4 seconds.
Swimmers, stand up on the blocks.
I get up on the blocks, feeling the roughness of the step scrape my skin. This is when I start glancing around at all my opponents. Next to me is a girl about my height, who looks good. The rest except for one are all taller then me, surprisingly. I'm always the tallest at school, but at swim team, I'm both the youngest in my age group, and the smallest. One away from the opposite side from me is a girl shorter then me, and then next to her one that I know that I can beat, so I start to feel better.
Swimmers, take your marks.
This is when my thoughts start to go blank and I try to prepare myself for the race. Four lengths, back and forth, back and forth. Start out with just go fast but don't put to much effort into it, and glide. Try to drop the pace a little bit on the second one. Then make a decision on the third lap depending on how I'm feeling. I always factor it in as a 3-lap-race- the fourth lap will seem like nothing because of the fact that I know that I'm almost there, and people next to me will push me competitively. I need a time under 1:28.00.
Beep!
The Buzzer sounds and all of us dive. I catch one glimpse of my family and friends watching and cheering on the other side of the pool before I hit the water.