The National Black Heritage Swim Meet

Triangle Aquatics Center in Cary

Some of the NC Aquablazers!

This past weekend I found myself back in my hometown of Raleigh, NC for my favorite annual sports event. The National Black Heritage Swim Meet!

Since I was as tiny as 4, I've been a competitive swimmer. While swimming for year-round teams, once a year I would come out to NBHSM with our team, NC Aquablazers, and compete against other teams from all over the country. New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Maryland, DC and others collectively bring 900 swimmers to test their luck against the others in their age groups. And ironically, we compete at a pool that on a daily inhabits the swim practices of many a white majority teams. Now the deck is filled with beautiful black and brown faces. It's a sight.

Even better, our favorite jams like Poison, Outstanding, and Before I Let Go bump through the speakers between heats, and the idle swimmers bop their heads as they wait for their turn to compete.

Saturday night, the swimmers converge in a hotel ballroom to dance their stresses away. My little brother Bryan DJ's the party and I immediately become one of the few coaches dancing in with the youngins. Its one of my favorite times of the year!

The Sunday morning session comes, and the older teens are slumped in their seats sleepy after warm up. Gospel music fills the space, then the anthem, and the start of the last day! This was the day for the coaches relay.

come annn get this work, Detroit coaches.

There were ALOT of coaches competing this year, so we got 6th.

Detroit got first.

But whateva. Our swim was great!

Got a decent leg up and everyone swam really well.

Relays, relays, relays! The older boys of course won theirs, so did some of the older girls! At the end of the day, NC Aquablazers placed third overall!

With the stresses of running the sweetest little girl from event to event, helping my mom set up the food for the officials, and turning in one relay card after another, it'd seem that I'd be releasing a sigh of relief after the meet was over. But every year I just feel this overwhelming sense of nostalgia right in the pit of my stomach. This meet is always a reminder of how quickly I'm growing up.

Not even a decade ago, I was a swimmer in this meet, getting fussed at by my older coaches for missing an event (that I probably didn't want to swim in the first place). Or trying to front on how excited I was to win that first place cap in the 50 freestyle. I remember impatiently waiting to get my events written on my arm, and now I'm the coach doing the writing like, "okay! hold on, I'll get you next, I promise!"

But, regardless of it all, it's an event that I will never miss and always be ready to help. Even on the nights I go to bed at one and wake up at five. These people have seen me grow, so hearing them say they see me doing well, means a everything to me. And this meet, always made me feel welcome as a black swimmer. Just once a year.