1. Doing the 500 Freestyle
By Maggie Miller
“Why did I sign up for this? I am going to die,” I said,
counting down the minutes. I just finished my four events at my
tenth swim meet. I did a 50 (2 laps) of each stroke (butterfly,
backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) I am on NAS swim
team. I knew this was a bad idea: I was about to do the 500
freestyle.
I sat down on the hard blue chair waiting there like I was
waiting for my death. I was shaking like a Chihuahua, scared, and
unsure. The only thing running through my mind was, how fast
should I go? I really had no clue!
It felt like a century. Almost everyone was gone except my
counter, my coach, and my parents. I looked up at the stands,
nobody in sight. I looked on the other side of the pool, my five
opponents. There were teenagers on my team too, and two were
cheering for me.
But there was only one teen standing beside me, my friend
Shannon. She is great! She was always there for me. She gave me
some helpful pointers like go fast, but not too fast that you know
you won’t be able to go for twenty laps. It was locked in my mind.

2. Her standing next to me made my worries of this event go right
away.
I watched the last of the teens go, for the 100 freestyle.
They zoomed right through it, which I didn’t like, because it was
closer to my doom. Shannon left my side for a moment; I
wondered why. She walked to the end of the pool, to lane 6 to be
exact.
Suddenly I heard my name being called from the distance.
“Maggie, Maggie, MAGGIE!!!” I looked up and there she was, my
coach Sherry. I flew right back in my chair. I squeezed my hand
around my NAS cap and my grey goggles. “Maggie, you are up
next! Get your cap on and your goggles and go to lane 6,” Sherry
screamed. She didn’t want me to miss this race. I did what she
said and walked to lane 6, got my cap on, checked if it was
straight, and adjusted my goggles so they wouldn’t leak; now I
was ready to go. The last heat of the 100 Freestyle was almost
done. I started to get pumped up. I was jumping around to keep
my blood flowing.
I noticed that I was in need of a counter, because a 500 is
way too much to keep track of considering that you have speed
stuck in your mind. So I looked across the bright blue pool and I
saw my friend Dana counting for me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

3. Also I saw my friend Rachel going to cheer for me next to
Shannon. I was overjoyed. Now I got to go fast! The boys were
almost done. Two laps left. I went through my checklist in my
mind: goggles and cap- check, tight goggles- check, blood flowing-
check, Maggie- check. I was still ready to go.
“Next event, Girls 11-12 500 Freestyle,” the announcer said.
Beep beep beep BEEP! That means that the swimmers must get on
the blocks. There was silence-concentration. Take your mark… I
took a deep breath. I reached down and gripped the end of the
block. I was in the perfect position, waiting for those magic
words.
“GO!” With all my might I pushed off those blocks for
length and with power. The tips of my fingers entered, soon
following my whole body. I did a tight streamline and kicking like
crazy, but not too fast though! My arms were working with me,
over the head at perfect length and entering the water pushing it
behind. I was in the best position I ever was.
Before I knew it I was at the other side of the pool! Dana
put the first number down. 1. I looked up and saw everybody.
They were cheering. They made me want to go even faster. Dana
was doing her job. One lap down, 19 to go! I did a flip turn, pushed

4. off, and did a streamline. My head popped up after I passed the
flags and I just kept swimming.
Taking of my many breaths I noticed nobody was in sight. “I
am either in first or last,” I thought to myself. A few more laps
went by without me noticing! I was keeping a rather good pace.
I was doing the same things for literally all of the 500: good
pace, great position, good flip turns, and streamline. “Ring, ring,
ring,” I heard. That means that somebody was in first place and
on their last lap. Right then I knew that I was in last. My counter
pulled down the last marker covered in red, which meant that
when I flipped, I would be done at the other end of the pool. I
jumped in joy, actually I didn’t because I was in a pool swimming
and I would get “DQed” if I touched the ground with my feet. So
I did it in my mind.
I did my last flip. Streamline, kicking. My head popped up
from under the water. With all the energy I had left, I sprinted.
I must have been done in a matter of ten seconds! I spotted the
yellow and blue flags. I held my breath dunked my head under the
water, and my body following right behind. I was still doing
freestyle. Then I touched the padded wall.
I did it. I stood up. I glanced up to see my time. 7:23.45!
But I came in last. But it doesn’t matter what place you get in,

5. the only the time matters. I looked up at my dad who was timing
me; he gave me a thumb up.
The next heat dove over me. I squirmed out of the pool and
walked towards my coach. She gave me a giant hug followed by a
“Great job!” She was proud of me. It made me feel great. Then
she said “You have a time to beat later” and stuff like that.
After I went into the locker room and got dressed and went
upstairs to see my parents. While I was getting dressed my dad
went up before me. I spotted them in the bleachers. They
congratulated me. I told them, “I didn’t die.” It made me feel
good.
The End