Let’s chat! I was a competitive swimmer in high school and it was honestly my life’s passion. In an effort to take my career to the next level, I was told to go for an ‘official timing’ heat at some school on the “bad side of town” (as bad as town can get in Rochester, New York), and my mom refused to drive me there at the last minute.
Thus my freestyle sprinting career was cut short, but she still feels guilty every time we watch the olympics.
“I should have let you go,” she says. “I bet you could be there right now”
:: sigh::
anyhoo. I now swim three to four times a week, about 30 to 40 minutes, a few sprints at the end just to see if I’ve still got it.
I think swimming is the one thing in my current life that really really makes me feel good and happy. It relieves so much stress and it’s quiet and smooth. If I could do anything at any point during the day, my first choice would be “let’s go swimming”.
I wasn’t a competitor, but I was a WSI for a few years and took a lot of swimming classes. Swimming has always been one of my favorite things, because of the freedom and sensuality of it. Plus, it’s just about the most effortless exercise I’ve ever done–I never really got tired swimming, it just got harder to do, if that makes any sense.
Plus, hey. Women in good shape wearing suits. Dang.
My favorite job in all my life was teaching sailing at Interlochen, the National Music Camp in Michigan. I got to hang out on the beach all day, and my uniform was a Speedo and my glasses. The job only paid room/board/free concerts and $300 for the entire summer, but damn that was fun.
Although I have been swimming for what seems like forever, I got into competitve swimming rather late. And, due to bad timing, got out of it early. But I still look on it fondly. It’s hard for me to work swimming into my schedule, but when I do make it (or go purely rec swimming) it all comes back to me–and how much I miss it.
It’s always fun to talk to other swimmers and share “evil workout” stories.
I was a junior county swimmer all through school, but had to give up when I got to college as I am just too little - my events were Breastroke and Butterfly, and I didn’t have the armspan needed to continue at that level. I also discovered the hitherto unknown concept of ‘par-tay-ing’ at this point, so all of a sudden getting out of bed at 5.30 am to go train was not quite as appealing as it had been previously.
Also my 'fly was fast but messy, so I got fed-up of people poking fun of ‘the travelling splash’ (me)
*Hey, say it to my face. Oh yea, you can’t, as I am three strokes ahead of you . . *
Nor do I miss the sensation of sweating heavily in water, all prickly skin. Ew. Or the constant ear infections. Ewww.
I now swim for an hour three times weekly, but the local pool is run-down and frankly fairly icky. And there is no dive team to come and distract me, which was always a HUGE highlight for me as a teenager.
I did competition swimming from age 5 to 15. At that point, the cigarette smoking began to interfere with my swimming, so I gave up swimming. D’oh!
To be honest, I didn’t really like the competitive aspect. I just liked swimming for its own sake and hated the 4-6 hours every-damn-day drill. I don’t swim now (no place around here) but I do wish I could start up again.
I was a competitive swimmer from about age 5 to age 13. When I was 13 I was too big for my parents to spank and they couldn’t make me go.
I hated almost every bit of it. People who’ve never done it don’t realize it is an all-year sport. 12 months a year, practice 5-6 days a week. It sucked being deprived of a real life as a kid.
It was cool traveling to different places for competitions, but the never ending training was miserable. As a pubescent kid though, seeing all the girls in swimsuits was a real bonus.
Looking back, it did teach me how to swim well and I’m pleased with that. I wish I was a gymnast though, because they have the best bodies.
Mom was one of the first female lifeguards in the city of Chicago. Swimming was always her passion, therefore, she started us young. All of the kids took lessons starting at about four years of age and continued until we got onto high school swin teams. I enjoyed it and continued swimming pretty regularly for the first couple of years outta HS.
Mom (75) and dad (80) still swim at least three times a week. God bless 'em, and you too Jarbaby, I say.
The last time I swam laps was at an outdoor pool at the college in Key West. About two weeks after I found the pool, I ended up getting transferred so any hopes for getting back into the routine were dashed. Well, maybe someday, maybe tomorrow.
Tho I’ve been around water most of my life - my grandparents had a cabin on the Magothy River just south of Baltimore - I never really learned to swim. I’m very buoyant, tho, and I can float with the best of 'em!
My daughter went out for swim team last year because she loves to swim - she was more interested in the workout than competing. She’s returning to the team for the same reason. Luckily, the school’s swim team is still new and they can’t afford to be picky, so there’s no worries about not making the team. I’ve gone to a few meets and I find them incredibly boring, but I still cheer for the Panthers!