She said she would

She said she would, and she did.

With just a couple of slight changes to this recent, well-known inspirational quote, senior swimmer Hailey Beastrom took the idea and turned it into reality last weekend at the 3A East Conference swim meet.

Having previously qualified for the state meet in the 50 Freestyle, Beastrom determined she would “just swim faster” in that event as the conference meet loomed on the horizon Thursday.

It wasn’t the first time this season that Hailey announced to me that she would achieve a goal, and I doubt it will be the last.

Hailey knew that she had swam the 50 Free in under 27 seconds on her leg of the 200 Freestyle Relay earlier in the season. She also saw the heat sheets for the conference prelims and liked where she was seeded, which was fourth in the conference — and she was excited about her chances at doing well in the race.

Not only did she do well in the prelims and finals, she blew away the rest of the pack, winning both the preliminary and final races in a dominant fashion, taking a full two seconds off her previous best time, which is an extraordinary accomplishment in such a short race.

I watched the video of her race and she was leading from the start, but on the turn, she exploded off the wall and finished a second ahead of the No. 2 swimmer.

Her performance earned her the top of the podium, and All-Conference Honors as well.

Manifesting your dreams has definitely been a trending thing, and while some may poo-poo the idea of speaking into existence achieving your goals, there’s no denying that manifestation can and does work.

You may ask how people can believe that thinking something into existence is possible, but when one truly believes that success is within reach, they open the door to the likelihood that it will.

For Hailey, that manifestation gave her the fortitude to push herself harder than she ever had before, and it also gave her the confidence to know she could do it.

It doesn’t hurt that she is a competitor and has the athleticism to back it up, but before she said it out loud, she had the option not to make it happen.

After she came into the office smiling and saying she had something to tell me, then proceeded to declare that she was going to win the 50 Free, Hailey had little choice but to follow through on her promise.

Hailey’s success should be an inspiration to every aspiring champion. Manifestation can and does work, because it forces you to do everything within your power to bring the dream to fruition.