My heart to swim competitively burned out when I was seventeen - though I swam another year (my senior year in high school). Then 33 years later I got back in the pool, and like many others, discovered that I had a renewed passion to compete. That seems in some ways strange to me, so I've been thinking about why I compete. I've reached the conclusion that I really wasn't done when I left the pool at eighteen - rather, I just needed a breather. (That was one huge oxygen debt!) I wonder if one day I'll be done competing, or if this passion is a lifelong one, like the passion for fitness and health that my swimming serves regardless of whether or not I compete.
One reason I compete is it keeps me going. If I don't have a meet to train for down the road I find myself coming up with a lot of excuses and skipping workouts. I'm sure there are people out there who have the willpower to swim consistently without ever competing, but I guess I'm not one of them!
One reason I compete is it keeps me going. If I don't have a meet to train for down the road I find myself coming up with a lot of excuses and skipping workouts. I'm sure there are people out there who have the willpower to swim consistently without ever competing, but I guess I'm not one of them!
