Set the scene
Sophomore Year in high school my only goal was to go to high school state in the 200 IM.
Tell the tale
At sectionals, I was in lane 7 and there was an official standing right over my lane at the far side of the pool. I had a good start, and my pace was good. At the 25, I turned, did 8 kicks on my back, realized it was a 200 IM (oops), quickly turned over and started doing fly again, and went on to finish my race with a personal best (at the time). Somehow the official standing at the end of my lane didn't notice that my second 25 of fly began with 8 dolphin kicks on my BACK. I was lucky.
However, at my first high school meet ever I was not so fortunate. We had our dual meet against Fond Du Lac and I won my first event, the 200 IM, by over an 8-second lead. I was about to climb out of the pool and said "Now here's the hard part: getting out." The official walked up to me and said, "Here's the really hard part: You're disqualified."
Advice
- At that precise moment I learned once and for all that the WIAA does not allow people to wear watches when they swim. So I DQ'ed my first high school event ever.
