The proudest moment of my swimming life so far would have to be a year ago, when I was awarded first place for my age in the whole of Gold Coast. I was overwhelmed when I first received the invitation requesting me to attend at the award presentation. I knew only the top swimmers for their age got invited to this, so I was delighted, overjoyed, and proud that I was good enough to make it after living in Australia for only eight months. This encouraged me and spurred me on to do better and try as hard as I could at every training session, where I focused on the technique of my strokes with more detail. The night of the award ceremony, I was a little nervous when I walked into the room; I looked at the dazzling trophies on the table and hoped that I could walk away with one of them in my hand. I wasn’t very confident and expected nothing more than third place, which would be an excellent and marvelous placement for me. When the presenter announced my age group, he called another girl out for third place, and then second place was someone else too; the only place left was first, and I thought they had forgotten me, or invited me by mistake. The presenter then announced, “In first place, Sahara Siyal!” That was me! Everyone applauded as I gracefully, yet humbly walked over to the medal presenter, shook his hand, and was awarded my gold trophy. I was so enthralled, exhilarated, and overjoyed to achieve such a high ranking! It was a fantastic feeling to know that I made it to the top of the region of the Gold Coast; which is the home of many world class swimmers. I was so proud of myself for my achievement, and I knew that all my hard work paid off. It was a wonderful feeling when I realized all those cold early mornings and nights, in the middle of winter, when I had to dive into that bitter, freezing cold pool, and all those nights when I came home with sore and aching muscles, finally paid off. Since that day, I have worked especially hard in all my training sessions, so that this year, I can experience the same proud moment I had last year.