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When the swim season began , my 11 - year - old daughter , Elizabeth , and I cut a deal .
She would go to practice three times a week and try really hard and have a lot of fun , and I would n’t make her compete in the swim meets .
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Elizabeth does not like swim meets .
She gets horribly nervous but not because she wants to win .
She does n’t want to win .
She does n’t expect to win .
She does n’t care if she wins .
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Nerves stem from the possibility that she will do something horribly wrong and let everyone down .
On the day of a meet , she would be scared all day .
She would be scared as the meet began and scared throughout the meet .
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Afterward , when her mother and I asked , “ Did you have a good time ? ”
she would say , no , she did not .
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Elizabeth started to talk about quitting swimming , which broke my heart because she loves swimming .
So I came up with the deal , and she readily agreed .
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Recently , Elizabeth ’s team announced a special swim night : Members 11 and older would swim a timed 50 meters in all four strokes and then have pizza .
It was n’t exactly a meet , because it would involve only team members .
That was my view .
Elizabeth countered that it absolutely was a meet because there would be races and timers and so on .
We needed a good contract lawyer .
None was available .
I told Elizabeth I really wanted her to go .
She fought back furiously but finally agreed .
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When the day of the special swim night arrived , Elizabeth was nervous .
When we got to the pool , she became even more nervous .
She was probably the youngest person there and shorter by at least a foot than most of the other kids .
She panicked .
She spent all her time by my side , shivering .
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Her first race was the 50 - meter freestyle .
For the first time in competition , she used a swim turn .
That was really cool to watch , and she flipped very well .
But she missed the wall .
She had to go back and touch the wall , so that hurt her time .
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She swam her backstroke and breaststroke without incident .
It was n’t fun for her ; I could see that .
The older kids did n’t really notice her .
She did n’t have any chance to win a medal .
You always hear in sports that the butterflies go away after a while , but Elizabeth ’s butterflies just kept flapping .
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Then it was time for the T - shirt relay , which works like this : One person from each relay team puts on a T - shirt , a pair of socks , and a swim cap ; swims 50 meters ; and gets out of the pool .
She takes off the clothes and puts them on the next person , who then swims 50 meters .
This continues until everyone on the team has completed a lap .
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For some unknown reason , Elizabeth ’s relay team chose her to swim the anchor leg .
They worked out a Cirque du Soleil move to get the T - shirt off one swimmer and onto the next one .
It did n’t always work , but it was always entertaining .
By the last leg , Elizabeth ’s team had built up a moderate lead .
Then it was Elizabeth ’s turn to swim .
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It was rather extraordinary to watch the team try to dress her in socks and a T - shirt .
By that point , all tactics were out the window ; everyone was pulling and yanking to get her inside the shirt and to get those socks on .
And then she was off .
She seemed to swim faster in the T - shirt and socks than she did when she was n’t wearing them .
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Approaching the halfway mark , she was still in the lead .
Then somebody noticed that one of Elizabeth ’s socks had fallen off and was floating in the pool .
“ She has to get that sock on before the end of the race , ” a swimming official ( or maybe it was just some guy ) told Elizabeth ’s team , “ or you will be disqualified . ”
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Everybody on her team started screaming , “ Elizabeth !
Elizabeth ! Stop !
Get the sock ! ”
But she could n’t hear them .
One of her teammates jumped in the water , grabbed the sock , and threw it at Elizabeth .
She still did n’t notice .
She was in the zone .
She made the turn and started her last 25 meters .
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“ Elizabeth ! ”
They yelled , even louder .
She still did n’t hear them .
( As her father , I could relate . )
Meanwhile , a girl in lane two was gaining on Elizabeth .
It was time for desperate measures .
A girl on my daughter ’s team jumped in the pool , grabbed the sock , and swam after Elizabeth .
She grabbed Elizabeth ’s foot .
“ You have to put the sock on , ” the girl screamed .
Elizabeth treaded water while her teammate put on the sock .
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By now , the girl in lane two was about to pass Elizabeth .
With the sock finally on , Elizabeth swam her heart out for the last 15 meters .
It was close .
But Elizabeth beat the other girl to the wall for the victory .
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There was much celebration and joy .
Hugs .
High fives .
Cheers .
And , for a few minutes , Elizabeth was the hero .
It was completely unexpected and completely ridiculous and completely pointless .
But she was the hero .
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On the ride home , she relived her moment of glory again and again .
She talked about how scared she was when someone grabbed her foot and how funny it was when she was sloshing to the finish and how great the night was .
She told me that if the T - shirt relay was an Olympic event — and she is quite sure it should be — her team would win the gold medal .
I told her that in my professional opinion , she was absolutely right .