By Owen Pilson
Capital Wave U19 Team / Coach 14U

To those of you that don’t know me, I’m Owen Pilson. I’ve been playing with Capital Wave for 5 years now. I’ve also been coaching with the club for 3 years as of now.

It’s been a long journey. I try and say that I’m a person that lives in the moment and most of the time enjoys the moment. I used to swim at Brewer Pool from the ages 10-12. It was a once a week swim session called Power Swim.

It wasn’t much, but it was exercise, and it was swimming, which I enjoyed very much. I remember vividly swimming front crawl and breathing on my side to be greeted by Capital Wave’s massive advertising poster on the wall opposite of the stands. 

It may sound silly, but that sign was the reason that I joined. My mom told me about a water polo team in Ottawa and their summer program. I was so scared. I had no idea what water polo was. 

If anyone reading this knew me in 2017 they know I was timid to say the least. I was scared to meet new people and become accustomed to something completely new to me. I only did it because my parents knew that it would be good for me to do it. 

The other night, I did something that surprised me and would have made my 2017 not-so-in-shape self proud. 

I ran 7.3km in 35 minutes. 

When I was younger I had a perfect idea of what I wanted to look like and how I wanted to dress and act, just like every kid growing up. My goal was to always fit into that category and be able to tell myself: “he would be proud”. If you told my 12 year old self this is who I’d be in 2021, I would have never believed you. 

Don’t ever give up on yourself and your dreams. I never stopped pushing to better myself and become the young man I wanted to be. 

The moral of the story is to not let ego control your life. Allow yourself to set boundaries that satisfy not only yourself in the present but also the past and future. Ask yourself whenever you feel conflicted, or if you just want to reflect upon where you are in life, “is this who I wanted to be?, who do I want to be?” I promise you that regret will no longer be on the table. 

To all the younger athletes that may be reading this, or anyone, strive for greatness. Don’t be scared to take risks. What’s the worst that can happen? 

And surround yourself with people that support you. People that want you to succeed and make you better.

I’m still learning, I don’t have all the answers, no one does. 

My advice for you is to always look for ways you can improve upon yourself. Be satisfied, but not comfortable, never be comfortable. Always be learning and don’t be afraid to take the leap of faith. 

Guess what? I’m now the one on the poster hanging up inside Brewer Pool. If that isn’t poetic, I don’t know what is.