xjispa

[xjispa]

As a swimmer, I have always been told that I have a great physique. Who hasn’t seen the countless memes highlighting how muscular swimmer girls are? But insecurities lie within that as well. A few years ago, one of my friends told me, “ I wish I didn’t look like a bulky man; I want to be a normal girl without XXL shoulders.” Well, this post is for all you sportswomen who also feel this way.

I never wear a formal dress – I cannot pull the zip up because my shoulders are too huge. I fit into the men’s L size because of my shoulders but have a woman’s XXS waist. I can beat all my male friends at pullups but can never borrow my female friend’s clothes because I think I look awkward. I faced these problems as many of you have, but I have learnt how to deal with them. Who cares about the stereotypes in society? The people who mind have never swum 14km in a day and been too tired to even eat. They have never built up so much lactic acid that they throw up. They don’t know what it is like to feel the power in your body as you fly off the starting blocks in perfect streamline. They never trained all year only to lose a race by 0.01s. So, who are they to judge your body? Always remember the reason you are who you are. You are muscular because you're strong enough to endure 7km workouts. You have broad shoulders because you swim twice a day and don’t give up. You have arms that are longer than normal because you know that that is going to help you survive a 200fly. You don’t fit into the standard sizes at H&M because you're extraordinary. You're someone who refused to give in to the pain, and your body reflects that. You're someone, who, unlike normal people, wakes up at 4:30 am just to get 0.01 seconds faster. Heck, you voluntarily bought a $500 tech suit and spent 30 excruciatingly painful minutes in the locker room wearing it! It’s your body. Flaunt it.

So, this is for the swimmer who can never find the right size of clothes, who has been told to “tone it down”, who kills herself every day in the pool only to return, who has lost countless races by microseconds, who goes against the stereotypes, but who would never have it any other way.