Hyperventilation

I hyperventilated for the first time today.

It was 6 o’ clock. The sun was still fairly high and the excitement of the swim meet was getting to everyone. Not me. Of course I was put into the worst event: the 200 I.M. If you have never swam competitively nor sprinted, you will not understand. Being put under such pressure is deadly. Plus, my neck has been hurting and I’m not supposed to go to diving until that feels better.

In lane 3, my shaking body was plopped in a chair, awaiting doom. Okay, I thought. This won’t be hard. I may have missed warmups, but that gives me more energy…

“Ladies, step up.” The whistle blew. “Take your mark.” I leaned down. The two other girls beside me bent down. BLEEP. My arms swung and the water smacked me. Okay, streamline. This was easy. As I finished my 50 fly, my arms were starting to ache. Backstroke was okay, but I had to go easy on the last part. Turn. Breastroke was the killer. With each painstaking stroke, I died a little more.

And then came the feeling. As I saw my coaches yelling at the end of the pool, I felt dizzy. Was I going to throw up? I seriously considered getting out at the end of the breastroke. But, I dragged on into an easy free. Splish, splosh, splish, breathe, splosh. As my hand grasped for the wall, I realized I wasn’t last. But my time was terrible.

After I had somehow managed the strength to get myself out, I headed to my towel. I passed mom. I must have looked pretty bad.

“Are you okay?” She asked. I couldn’t answer. I was about to burst into tears for no reason. I couldn’t utter a word, shake my head. Nothing. So she took me to the chair beside my towel and made me sit down.

“Are you hyperventilating?” I shook my head no. I couldn’t breathe. I should have said yes, but I’m not one to make a scene. My breath was uncontrollable. When I tried breathing normally, it came in spastic intakes with no exhaling. I felt nauseous.

I started breathing through my towel, and it got better. I could breathe a little slower. Control came back. So I sat there for about 10 minutes with closed eyes, just breathing. It was scary. Never, ever am I swimming the 200 IM again. I guess I was hyperventilating.