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.
Parents
Former Member
Why do we compete?
I work in our local hospital. There have been several patients, some friends, who have died in their sixties from COPD, while survivors are tethered to an oxygen bottle from their late 50's. The only excercise they got was lifting their cigarettes to their mouths. I'm not a smoker, but this was an eye opener.
Using my father as a role model (Dad is now 81, a diabetic using diet, attitude, weight, and excercise so he needs no injections), I decided to get serious. I did not want to end up like some of the
the patients I saw.
Swimming was my sport in AAU and high school so I made up my mind to give it a try at the ripe old age of 44. Partly to encourage my son to particiapte in swimming, but mostly to regain my strength and agility, I wondered about joining the USA team 30 miles to the north. The final push came when a college friend encouraged me to join and swim with the kids. She did, and loved it. Could I? (While driving to sign up, my son asked "But, Dad, shouldn't you retire from sports at your age?")
I was so nervous for my first USA/AAU meet since 1974. But when I walked out of the locker room and was met with that glorious humidity, chemical smell, the sounds which are so familiar in a swimming venue, and the pool set up for a meet; I knew I was home.
That was October 1998 and I'm still competing, although I limit competing to the fall season. I've made many new friends among coaches, parents, USMS swimmers, age group swimmers, and officials. It's great to see them year after year to share stories about their kids, meets and the other activities in their lives. I've followed swimmers as they go on to college, and new swimmers who are beginning to find the zone. It's a wonderful community that few people appreciate. It's not about winning or losing. When you are moving and particiapte you always win no matter what place you get in a race.
My son? Well, he chose football. I never miss a game.
Why do we compete?
I work in our local hospital. There have been several patients, some friends, who have died in their sixties from COPD, while survivors are tethered to an oxygen bottle from their late 50's. The only excercise they got was lifting their cigarettes to their mouths. I'm not a smoker, but this was an eye opener.
Using my father as a role model (Dad is now 81, a diabetic using diet, attitude, weight, and excercise so he needs no injections), I decided to get serious. I did not want to end up like some of the
the patients I saw.
Swimming was my sport in AAU and high school so I made up my mind to give it a try at the ripe old age of 44. Partly to encourage my son to particiapte in swimming, but mostly to regain my strength and agility, I wondered about joining the USA team 30 miles to the north. The final push came when a college friend encouraged me to join and swim with the kids. She did, and loved it. Could I? (While driving to sign up, my son asked "But, Dad, shouldn't you retire from sports at your age?")
I was so nervous for my first USA/AAU meet since 1974. But when I walked out of the locker room and was met with that glorious humidity, chemical smell, the sounds which are so familiar in a swimming venue, and the pool set up for a meet; I knew I was home.
That was October 1998 and I'm still competing, although I limit competing to the fall season. I've made many new friends among coaches, parents, USMS swimmers, age group swimmers, and officials. It's great to see them year after year to share stories about their kids, meets and the other activities in their lives. I've followed swimmers as they go on to college, and new swimmers who are beginning to find the zone. It's a wonderful community that few people appreciate. It's not about winning or losing. When you are moving and particiapte you always win no matter what place you get in a race.
My son? Well, he chose football. I never miss a game.
