29 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

Lesson 9

Swimming has its own language and 'capping' is an entirely different art under the umbrella of swimming
.

Many swimmers go their entire swimming careers without properly learning the 'art' of the swim cap.

These poor unfortunate souls are the ones who must constantly ask someone else to cap them because they can't cap themselves. (These same souls are also the ones who hurt your ears, twist your cap and pull your hair when trying to cap you)

Caps, you see, are these wonderful little latex or silicone domes that one wears on their head when swimming.

Contrary to popular belief, these caps are not worn to keep your hair dry, in fact, rarely ever do I find that my cap has kept any water out. Instead it only seems to trap the water in - in my ears especially so.

The real reason we, especially girls, wear caps is for two reasons:

1. To reduce drag

2. To keep our hair from being in our face.

Anyway, as I was saying, capping is an art. A good 'capper' will be able to bring your cap swiftly on your head straight and un-pulling down to the nape of your neck in less than half a second.

In comparison a bad 'capper' will miss the front of your head with the cap and get caught on your ponytail and the cap will pull against your hair painfully.

I am ashamed to admit, that I am one of those cappers.

Wait! Don't judge me yet! I am an excellent capper for others, but I CANNOT, I repeat CANNOT cap myself.

I twist it, get caught on my ponytail, pull my hair and worst of all......

.....,break the cap.

Yes, I break them.

I break them a lot to. And that, is what this lesson is all about.

Because I break caps so frequently I usually ask someone else to cap me.

However, on this swim team I was not often given the chance too. You see, we would have drylands before practice each day and then between drylands and the start of practice we would have about 2 minutes to change into our suits and get in the water.

In this mad dash it was always 'every man for himself'. You couldn't afford to give up any of your time to help another person because then you might be late.

So as we all rushed out on the pool deck and started to jump in the water I struggled to put my swim cap on myself.

SNAP

The tangy sound of silicone snapping rang in my ears and I suddenly felt less resistance against my hands trying to pull the cap over my head. I froze and carefully peeled the cap back off my head and overviewed the damage.

It was totaled.

It was ripped in a straight line up the spine of the cap and I felt a small wave of remorse rush through me as I looked at the broken cap in my hands.

I loved this cap, we were close. We were together for nearly three hours a day seven days a week.

I walked over to my swim bag and tucked in a pocket, I didn't want to throw it out yet.

I pulled out my extra cap and then walked back over to the pool side. I grabbed the cap and pulled in to stretch over my head.

SNAP

I froze again, surely I was imagining, maybe it was just my sorrowful mind playing tricks on my by replaying the sound of my favorites caps death over and over.

But the piece of silicone in my hand told me otherwise.

I stared at the small half-moon of silicone that had ripped of my cap where it normally would have covered my ears.

I threw the tiny piece into the trash can and then stood there unsure of what to do next.

Our coach was in the office and it was only a matter of time before she came out to yell at any poor soul that hadn't found their way into the water yet.

The clock was ticking and I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any more caps in my bag and I couldn't get one from my teammates because they were all already in the water swimming. I walked over to the lost and found hoping fervently that there would be a cap in there that I could borrow.

I dug through the uctociouse and smelly bin with my bare hands, risking the chance of getting strange foreign dieses and uncontrollable itchy rashes all for the sake of a swim cap.

My hand finally reached the bottom of the suspicious laundry bin and to my dismay there was still no cap. My eyes darted around the deck in one last desperate hope to save myself before resigning to the fact that I would have to go ask my coach for one.

I walked over to the door of her office and raised one sweaty hand up to knock on the door.

Knock

Knock

Knock

I waited nervously for her to come over.

She opened the door.

"Why aren't you in the water?" she asked

"My cap." I said shakily "My cap broke."

My knees shook as I waited for her impending wrath.

"I have one you can have." She sighed

I blinked, that was it? No death glare? No yelling? No tar and feathers?

She handed me a new cap and I took it hurriedly.

"Get it on and start warm-up." She said firmly

I nodded and quickly started to pull it over my head.

SNAP.

My heart stopped.

I think I forgot how to breathe and I just stood there paralyzed.

My hands slowly as if unsure of what to do lowered the cap down from above my head.

I stared at it in distress wondering if this really had just happened.

"Not again!" I thought. "This didn't happen again!"

My mouth was dry and as I turned to throw the cap out I heard the click of the office door opening and saw my coach walk out.

My pallor grew suddenly much whiter and I swallowed nervously.

"Why are you not in the water yet?" she snapped "I got you a cap! Put it on and get in!"

My eyes widened and I held forth the broken cap.

"I, I broke it."

Her mouth twitched and I couldn't tell if she was about to yell or laugh.

I held my breath in anticipation.

"Hahahahahaha" she started laughing.

"You have the worst luck don't you?" She laughed, "Come here, I'll get you another one."

I breathed a sigh of relief and followed her back to the office.

She handed me another new cap and I took it apprehensively.

"Can you cap me?" I asked

That day I set an impressive record for "Most Caps Broken at One Practice" that no one will probably ever break.

This is my claim to fame for generations to come.

Lesson Learned: Keep trying even when it seems hopeless because you might become famous..... for failing.