― Arthur Ashe
On the heels
of the beginning of the school year comes the start of sports. This morning, we had the first swim meet of
the season. There were several girls new
to the sport and they approached the event, which is confusing even for veteran
swimmers and parents, with visible trepidation.
At the start
of her first heat, one of the new team members jumped in before the race
began. Confused, another swimmer jumped
in after her. They both began swimming
toward the other end of the pool. The
announcer called for the girls to get out of the pool, but they could not hear
him. As the girl who had jumped in first
reached the other side of the pool, one of the older girls on the team waited
at the end of the swim lane. She
signaled to the younger girl to stop and pulled her out of the water.
I watched the
interaction and found something amazing about such a tangible example of
kindness -- the older girl literally extended her arms, grabbed the younger
girl's hand and helped her out of the pool.
Then she patiently and gently explained what had happened and that they
were going to be given the opportunity to redo the heat.
I have seen
this older girl demonstrate kindness many times, but there was something about
today that truly touched my heart. Last
school year, this girl received the Most Valuable Player award in swim. She is an amazing swimmer, but she shines for
so much more than her incredible athletic ability.
The younger
girl had a rough start in her new sport, but I imagine that she will remember
the kindness of this older girl for a long time.
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