A Swimmer's Dream

A freezing winter's morning and the bed is warm and calm

When another swimmer's dreaming is destroyed by an alarm.

"Just this one I'll let it go", the thought is often there

But the thought is overruled by a dedicated stare.

The eyes behind the stare have a special kind of gleam

And the heart below the eyes holds a promise and a dream.

The promise has been made and it's a promise made for keeping

So another body hits the water while the world around is sleeping.

Then it's up and back, and up and back while other people snore

Until it's up and back a million times, then up and back once more.

That pool can be a lonely place and boring it would seem

You wonder why we stick it out, but then there is the dream.

Every day it's up and back - a life of repetition

Every day it's in that pool for little recognition.

The pressure to produce the goods can sometimes be extreme

We might just call it curtains if it wasn't for the dream.

To feel the proud excitement as the starter calls our name

On the day we are swimming for Australia in the Games.

To dive into the water - that's a tale already told

But this time it is different, it’s up and back for gold.

To stand upon that dais with a medal round our neck

As the cloth that holds our country's colours proudly resurrects.

To cry a tear of triumph as the national anthem plays

And to know the pain was worth it on those many training days.

That’s why we forced ourselves to get up out of bed

That's the stuff that drives us on, its the dream that's in our heads.

And when we’re standing there in a blaze of sporting glory

Remember that there’s many chapters to this sporting story.

The times our fingers touched the wall without the cheers and claps

The up and back and up and back of endless training laps.

Remember where it started when our lungs were breathing steam

On that freezing winter's morning, with that promise, with that dream.

(Credit: Dr Brendan Burkett St Andrew's Anglican College, House Patron & Paralympic Swim Captain, Sydney 2000)

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