Ola's success

In a small village near Warsaw, lived a 7-year-old girl

named Ola. She loved swimming, but no one expected her to be so talented. In her first year of primary school, the children went to the swimming pool in the capital every week. The first-graders learned to swim there, but when the instructor saw how well Ola handled herself in the water, he immediately moved her to the advanced group, which was the fourth-grade class. These were led by Ms. Sylwia, whom the girl really liked. The instructor was very surprised when her new student jumped from the pole to the headfirst and swam two full-frontal pools in forty seconds. She suggested afternoon training sessions at the "Neon" club in Warsaw. Ola was overjoyed. After returning home, she presented Ms. Sylwia's idea to the family. Her parents were delighted to hear of their daughter's talent. They decided that her mother would drive her to the classes, and her father would pick her up when he returned from the office.

The next day, Ola went to her first training session. She had been to

the pool many times before, so she knew where to change. When she entered the hall, Sylwia was already waiting for her. She told her to swim 1.5 kilometers in various strokes. Her best stroke was the breaststroke, and it was with it that she swam her first 100 meters against time. She did it in 1:55.48, a club and pool record. The coach was very pleased with her. She said she had never seen such a good swimmer. Ten-year-olds usually achieve such a time, and she was only seven. While Ola was drying her hair, Sylwia talked to her father. The girl later learned that there would be a competition in Płock in two weeks, and she was going to it. She was very happy and trained diligently during that time. Time flew by, and before Ola knew it, the day of the competition had arrived. Besides her, three girls and two boys from the group had gone. She didn't make many friends, but any company was better than none. They traveled in a rented bus. During the journey, Ola sat next to the girl she liked best. Her name was Kamila. The competitors chatted about the upcoming meet, their times, school, and other matters. A hundred kilometers felt like twenty. However, Ola felt they couldn't possibly be best friends.

The competition was very well-prepared. Immediately after the parade,

the girl went to the start. She swam the first round in lane three. She wasn't too worried, as it was a 50-stroke breaststroke. Still, the stress was there.

It turned out she needn't have worried, as she finished first. After everyone in that event had swum the fifty-meter distance, the ceremony took place. Of course, Ola was awarded the gold medal. She also did well in the other events. She received numerous invitations to other competitions. One was to Gdańsk, the other to Slovakia. However, the most important one was planned for Vienna, where the cutoffs for the Olympic Games could be made. Unfortunately, they weren't scheduled for another eight years. During that time, she had to train very diligently.

Eight years later...

Ola was already fifteen. She had made the cutoffs in Vienna for the Olympics, which

this time were to be held in Beijing. She competed in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and the 400- and 800-meter freestyle. She flew there with her clubmate Kamila. They still had time before the opening ceremony, which they spent at the pool. They trained hard, but spent the last day sunbathing and dipping their toes in the water. They also met two girls from England, with whom they spent most of their time. Time flew by. Before they knew it, the day of the competition arrived. Ola swam first. She did very well, breaking her personal best and the national record by two seconds. Fortunately, she only had one swim that day. However, she had to stay in the pool because it was unknown when the award ceremony would take place for the distance she swam, 200 meters breaststroke. Besides, the Polish representatives were also scheduled to swim. As she sat resting after the start, she heard a voice inviting her to a place near the podium. All of Ola's fans cheered, and Sylwia even cried. On her way there, Ola thought about her entire swimming career. She didn't look where she was going and bumped into someone. She started to apologize, but when she looked up, she saw her friend, Kate, congratulating her on her third place. Surprised, she kept repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She was overtaken by an Australian and an American, but Ola was nevertheless overcome with pride at having defeated many opponents older than herself. A bronze medal gleamed around her neck. When she returned to the stands, Kate threw herself into her arms. Then she accepted congratulations from her coach, Kamila, and received calls from her parents and grandparents... However, Ola knew she had to put more effort into her start tomorrow and the day after. She also watched her friends compete. From then on, Kate became her faithful friend. They promised each other eternal friendship. They decided to correspond, visit each other for holidays, breaks, and long weekends. The

next day, rested and happy, Ola went to the swimming pool. She had a tough day today.

That day, she swam the 100m breaststroke and the 400m freestyle. She was terribly afraid of it, but she thought to herself, "I'll just jump in, swim, and get out." It wasn't her favorite distance, so she competed in the second round. However, this didn't stop her from winning that race and improving her personal best. She was the same in the 100m breaststroke. But this distance was special to her. Kamila swam next to her, and Kate on the other side, but Ola beat them and the other competitors. She also set the national record again. The awards ceremony was quick and efficient. Aleksandra won another bronze in the front crawl and gold in the 100m breaststroke. Ola and Kate didn't wait until the end of the competition; they went to the village to rest. Meanwhile, the gold medalist's cell phone was filling up with congratulatory text messages.

The next day, she went to the starting line, happy. That morning, Ola didn't speak

to anyone, not even Kate. No one took it to heart, because they knew she had a very exhausting day. Before the race, she had been relaxing in the locker room, listening to Italian music. She was very nervous when her name was called. For a brief moment, she even considered withdrawing. However, she felt like she would be letting her fans and her coach down. And it was for them that Ola had started. However, she was terrified of letting them down. As she jumped, her whole body shook. She was afraid she wouldn't finish, but...

She finished fourth. She was happy with her place, but when they told her how much

she'd lost the bronze medal, she broke down. She was one hundredth of a second short. But she knew that's how it is in sports.

The next day, she returned home. Her entire family greeted her at the airport. Everyone

cried and hugged her. Her parents thanked Sylwia for taking care of their daughter. Ola returned happy not only with her medals, but the greatest joy was meeting a true friend.