Kamryn Schultz shares struggles of maintaining acceptable grades, performing up to par

The wind stung my face as I entered the dark pool deck. Every morning, before the sun had even risen, the coach screamed at the swimmers to get up and get moving.

The group groaned as they shuffled into the wetsuits crumpled at the bottom of their swim bags from the morning before. Waddling towards the edge of the pool, everyone looked at each other, wondering who would take the first plunge.

More screeches from the coach orchestrated that everyone would jump in together. Diving into the pool, the cold water stung. At first, I made no movements.

Finally, one arm lifted out of the water and fell forward, the other eventually copying the movement. Like a machine that knows how to run on auto-pilot, my body knew what to do as soon as it hit the water.

The routine started in September and continued every day. Wake up, swim in the morning, go to school, swim in the evening, go to bed, repeat.

Clovis Swim Club required senior group swimmers to attend nine practices; six in the evening and three in the morning; three hours of each evening practice, and one and a half hours in the mornings.

That schedule repeated itself for about four months. By the end of October, my body was painfully sore, sleep seemed unattainable, and school work kept coming.

But I still loved swim.

But at six years old, there came a new challenge. Something no one prepared me for. It was probably the best challenge. Competitive swimming; it shaped me.

The Fresno Dolphins Swim Club accepted me as a first grader. I screamed with delight and smiled at the thought of participating in this new sport. I was built for the water and I knew this experience would bring many friendships.

Throughout elementary school, I attended meets, won medals, and pushed myself harder and harder to be the best. In junior high, switching to Clovis Swim Club brought many new challenges, like racing against tougher swimmers. However, those things never compared to my passion for the sport.

Even though things are hard, what part does this passion play in my life? Should I side line it amidst responsibility, or find a place for it among the chaos? This is a question I have yet to discover the answer to. But I will not stop because the ache never goes away. — Sophomore Kamryn Schultz

As a young girl, accomplishing tough tasks was surprisingly easy. Learning how to ride a bike, tying shoelaces, and even starting karate at a dojo all came naturally.

As swimming became more serious, school became less important. So many swim priorities overlapped academic priorities, and because of that, I owned more swim shirts than normal ones. Then high school came around.

High school offered a lot more opportunities to get involved in the school, but also put a lot of stress and work on my shoulders. I still pursued swimming, but pretty soon, the passion for swim was derailed by duty to other responsibilities forced upon me. This made it difficult to pursue excellence in either arena. 

But journalism became the hardest challenged I encountered, which required a lot more dedication and thought than imagined. Journalism was an amazing opportunity, that was for sure, but I began to realize that my two major activities could not be done at the same time throughout high school.

Continuing the high school journey brought up an important question.

Was all the effort worth it?

For nine years, I swam for clubs, loved competing against friends, and just enjoyed exercising. My family had sacrificed vacation trips, spent hours on the pool deck and contributed thousands of dollars toward the sport that I loved.

Finally, the time came to make a decision. Swimming in college and rising to the professional level seemed to be the goal. Training hard throughout college to possibly go to the Olympics was all I thought about. But now that did not seem like a reality.

Should swimming still be the priority? It seemed to free me of all life’s problems and worries. Working hard helped distract from school and emotional issues.

But now I swam only a couple times a week and got out of practice early for other activities. Swim did not seem like the top priority anymore nor any type of escape. It was hard to balance both.

Clovis Swim Club helped improved my strengths and friendships. It offered many amazing opportunities and increased my athletic abilities. The coaches showed me skills I never thought capable, and the club offered great friends and good laughs.

But there came a point where it all became too overwhelming. I needed to choose between academics and athletics.

Academics eventually became more important.

The break has lasted one month, and though it has helped relieve stress and allowed time for rest, there is a void. My body misses the routine.

I ache for the sting of that cold water hitting my skin in the dark of the morning. The burn of muscles pushed to the limit. Passion to be the first to the wall.

Now, finding a balance between duty and passion is what occupies my mind. Am I capable of excelling in both? Daily, the challenge arises.

Even though things are hard, what part does this passion play in my life? Should I side line it amidst responsibility, or find a place for it among the chaos? This is a question I have yet to discover the answer to. But I will not stop because the ache never goes away.

For more features read, Andrew Palau shares personal story, encourages students.

This author can be reached via twitter: @schultz_kamryn and via email: Kamryn Schultz.