The Plunge

I jump up,
And position my bare feet on the rough plastic,
I bend forward and grab a hold of the platform,
My head is down, my muscles tense,
Time seems to stand still as I wait,
I don’t have long to wait, though,
Beep and I jump off,
For a few short seconds I am in the air,
Then my body slides into the water,
I stay under for a while beginning to kick,
As I break the surface, my arms come out too,
I begin to push the water by me,
It is warm against my bare skin,
But the temperature is far from my thoughts,
I am focused on one thing only,
And that is to push myself to the limit,
I continue on to the wall and again go under,
A few seconds later I’m back up going the way I had come,
Faster, faster, my arms and legs are pushing me,
The other wall is just within view,
One last surge of energy and my hands find it,
I stop with excitement looking around,
But two were already there waiting for me,
I look up and the others are excited, though,
So I turn towards the board,
My heart leaps as I realize why,
We did it, amazing, it had paid off,
I put up an arm and am pulled out,
As I walk away, I pull off my goggles and grab my towel,