"Champions are made when no one is looking"
I first encountered this saying when I was a high school freshman. I was out with my dad one morning and I happened to see this line printed on one of those novelty mugs. I was so intrigued by it that I decided to use it as my main motivation in my swimming. I always thought it was more on the metaphorical sense dealing with the small things in swimming such as completing the sets when your coach is not looking. Little did I know that there is something literal about it too.
Winning our very first UAAP Juniors Championship was one of the happiest moments in my life. The whole thing was a culmination of a very tumultuous season and though most of us knew we were the strongest team on paper, the whole experience of lifting the championship trophy at the end of the four day competition was just so surreal. It was also a season filled with personal triumphs and milestones. But no matter how great our performance was, it was nothing more than a blimp in the radar screen when we got back to school.
As a matter fact, no one really knew that we won our first championship until it was announced three days after we won it. To top it all off, we were overshadowed by an even "bigger" championship (I guess you know what this means). It was all frustrating to all of us. And why shouldn't it be, right?
Depressing as it was, the only thought that gave me comfort then is the same one that gives me comfort now. Championships are only important to those who deem it so.
I first encountered this saying when I was a high school freshman. I was out with my dad one morning and I happened to see this line printed on one of those novelty mugs. I was so intrigued by it that I decided to use it as my main motivation in my swimming. I always thought it was more on the metaphorical sense dealing with the small things in swimming such as completing the sets when your coach is not looking. Little did I know that there is something literal about it too.
Winning our very first UAAP Juniors Championship was one of the happiest moments in my life. The whole thing was a culmination of a very tumultuous season and though most of us knew we were the strongest team on paper, the whole experience of lifting the championship trophy at the end of the four day competition was just so surreal. It was also a season filled with personal triumphs and milestones. But no matter how great our performance was, it was nothing more than a blimp in the radar screen when we got back to school.
As a matter fact, no one really knew that we won our first championship until it was announced three days after we won it. To top it all off, we were overshadowed by an even "bigger" championship (I guess you know what this means). It was all frustrating to all of us. And why shouldn't it be, right?
Depressing as it was, the only thought that gave me comfort then is the same one that gives me comfort now. Championships are only important to those who deem it so.
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