If you were a summer swim team kid, your summer looked a lot different than most of your other friends. While most kids were spending their summer days lounging around and watching TV, you were at the pool practicing your flip turns. You didn't have time to have sleepovers or do day trips to the beach because you would miss a swim meet or practice.
But, when you strutted back to school on the first day with your fresh tan and chlorine beached hair, you felt like you had the best summer of your life. If you relate to most of these moments, you probably grew up on a summer swim team.
1. No matter how hard you tried, you always had the worst tan lines.
Spending most of your summer outside was great, especially because you would get super tan. But underneath that one piece it looks like Dr. Frankenstein stitched two separate bodies together.
2. There was no such thing as "sleeping in"
When the sun was rising so were you, just in time to make it to morning practice to miss stretching and part of warm up.
3. You timed your bathroom breaks accordingly.
Making sure you ask to go to the bathroom at just the right time to miss the worst part of the set is a skill you are proud to have.
4. All of your summer friends were on the swim team with you.
From morning practice, to spending all day at the pool, and to evening practice, most of your summer was spent with the same group of friends at the same place.
5. You showered a lot less often than you should have.
What was the point of showering if you were just gonna go to practice in an hour anyways?
6. Eating a walking taco at 9 am was normal.
Swim meet food was the only thing that could get you through having to swim that awful 50 fly.
7. You were covered from head to toe in Sharpie on meet days.
You became a mildly professional tattoo artist from writing all your events on your hands and drawing "Eat my bubbles" on all your friends.
8. You learned to love Mondays.
Mondays were Fundays -- you got to play water polo, sharks and minnows, and do fun relays.
9. You made your parents schedule vacation for after championship season.
There was NO way you were going to go to the beach for a week and missing championships.
10. You would have never wanted to spend your summers doing anything else.
You wondered what other kids did all summer if they weren't on swim team. Because if you weren't swimming, what was the point?
