no more interest in swimming

Jim hit the proverbial nail directly on the head when he wrote about goals. Without goals to guide you, motivate you and assist you in keeping focused on the mission, you will be lost. If I may, I want to share a part of a very sad but perhaps motivating story that may help guide you through this process. Two or three years ago I was a committed, dedicated hard working competitive swimmer. I then suffered through a very painful divorce and subsequent battle with depression which caused me to lose interest in swimming (and a few other things as well). I partly walked away for it was simply to painful to see my old friends and team mates who knew me as I once was, and not the broken man who now fought for his life on a daily basis. Within that maze of pain, suffering and depression I learned that the very people I was apart from were in fact the very people I needed to be around the most. Fellow swimmers, team mates and swimming friends and the camaraderie associated with USMS is a fundamental (and essential) foundation of our sport. We need one another in ways far deeper then simply swimming together. Find people to swim with, to enjoy, to share your life with, to compete against, to understand, to be understood and to help you stay focused on swimming for good health and a positive life style. I found that swimming is much more then water, goggles and hard work….it is much, much more then that….I may not be capable of overcoming the damage I did to my body these past few years, but I do know this, I am giving it one heck of a whack. Where I used to hold 1:05’s to 1:08’s on repeat sets of 100 SCY free with 10 to 15 seconds rest, I now hold 1:30’s (or more) going on 2:00. But, I am back in the water, and that is exactly where I belong. Lastly, remember that Masters Swimming is not defined by results, it is defined by the journey…. Good luck...and keep after it..... Kindest regards, Tom Ellison

Jim hit the proverbial nail directly on the head when he wrote about goals. Without goals to guide you, motivate you and assist you in keeping focused on the mission, you will be lost. If I may, I want to share a part of a very sad but perhaps motivating story that may help guide you through this process. Two or three years ago I was a committed, dedicated hard working competitive swimmer. I then suffered through a very painful divorce and subsequent battle with depression which caused me to lose interest in swimming (and a few other things as well). I partly walked away for it was simply to painful to see my old friends and team mates who knew me as I once was, and not the broken man who now fought for his life on a daily basis. Within that maze of pain, suffering and depression I learned that the very people I was apart from were in fact the very people I needed to be around the most. Fellow swimmers, team mates and swimming friends and the camaraderie associated with USMS is a fundamental (and essential) foundation of our sport. We need one another in ways far deeper then simply swimming together. Find people to swim with, to enjoy, to share your life with, to compete against, to understand, to be understood and to help you stay focused on swimming for good health and a positive life style. I found that swimming is much more then water, goggles and hard work….it is much, much more then that….I may not be capable of overcoming the damage I did to my body these past few years, but I do know this, I am giving it one heck of a whack. Where I used to hold 1:05’s to 1:08’s on repeat sets of 100 SCY free with 10 to 15 seconds rest, I now hold 1:30’s (or more) going on 2:00. But, I am back in the water, and that is exactly where I belong. Lastly, remember that Masters Swimming is not defined by results, it is defined by the journey…. Good luck...and keep after it..... Kindest regards, Tom Ellison