When I was a boy 🐬

　 “When I was a boy” I joined the club for no particular reason I didn’t try particularly hard I was just born with a slightly higher ability than most people The adults around me were ecstatic Rather than that, I felt a sense of mission to produce results Swimming was fun But before I knew it, it became a painful and difficult pressure I took time off school to compete in tournaments I participated in training camps hosted by other prefectures I was always practicing I attended classes to meet the minimum number of attendance days I felt a bit special, but I was alone in class What am I doing? Is this really okay? I had that feeling at the same time And That premonition turned out to be true pretty quickly I had already hit my limit When I realized that I was left with nothing else but myself I was really panicked But even so, it seems my fighting spirit and determination had been properly developed I managed to get this far Even now I still remember that one thing alone is not enough That lesson, like a heartache, is something I always remember whenever something happens “ 少年の頃 ” たいした理由もなく 選んで入ったクラブ 特別頑張ったわけでなく ただ多くの人より その能力が生まれつき 少し高かっただけだったんだ もてはやす周りの大人たち 有頂天になっている というよりも 結果を出さなきゃならない 使命感のような 楽しかったスイミング いつしかそれは 苦しく辛いプレッシャーに 学校を休んで大会に出場したり 他県主催の合宿へ参加したり 練習ばかりで 最低限の出席日数を合わせる そんなために授業に出る感じで ちょっと特別感も味わったけれど ポツンとクラスで なにやってるんだろ？ これで本当に大丈夫なんだろうか？ そんな気持ちも同時にあった そして その予感はわりと早く的中する もうこれで自分は頭打ちの限界だ それを悟ったとき それ以外何も無い自分だけが残った ほんとうに焦ったよ それでも闘争心と根性だけは ちゃんと育っていたようで なんとかここまで来れたけれど 今でも 何かひとつだけでは駄目なんだって そんな心の傷のような教訓を いつも何か事あるごとに 思い出しながら生きてたりするよ