YAY, it starts!

Well, JC, let me tell you about my high school "career" in swimming. I have always been about as athletic as limp balloon. Couldn't run. (Still can't.) Couldn't jump. (Still can't.) I flunked Red Cross Beginner swimming as a kid... But eventually I learned to swim enough to get from this end to that end. No technique. No style. but good enough. So in my freshman year I decided to try out for the swim team. Nobody had faith in me. I had strong doubts myself. The team worked out for about a week before tryouts. To make the team, boys had to do a 50 free (yards) in 32 or less. I did 32.9, but there was still one last slot on the team and they let me join. I got into one meet that year. Swam the 2nd leg of a 4x100 free relay on the B team in a meet that we already had won after the first 4 or 5 events. In practice I was always able to do 100 no problem, but in the heat of battle I went out far too hard on the first 25 and thought I was going to die after 75. I thought of stopping at the 3rd turn, but compelled myself to finish for the sake of the other 3 guys on that relay. I did my leg in 1:24. I could barely climb out of the pool. Afterwards I endured a lot of ribbing for the lousy split, but I didn't care because I was thrilled inside to have finished the event. I was part of the team, and I proved something to myself. In my sophomore year I got my 100 down to 1:06 and my 50 to about 30 flat. I swam in most meets as the #3 guy when there was a 6-lane pool. (Some of our meets were in 4-lane pools.) I even earned a few points for the team, but not enough to make varsity. (Varsity and JV swan together. To get a varsity letter you had to average at least one 3rd place per meet.) In my junior year I set a goal of breaking a minute for 100 free. At my first meet that year as I was getting out of the pool after I swam the 100, I heard the timer giving my time to the judges. She was struggling to read the stopwatch. "One-oh-six-point... I can't read this..." At first my heart sank. I thought I had done better than 1:06. But it turns out that I did a 1:00.6, and I knew I was on my way. The first time I broke a minute it was in a meet I should have placed 2nd. But I placed 4th. The milestone event was tainted, even though I had done a personal best and broken an important goal. By the end of that year I was doing in the upper 57s for 100 and upper 27s for the 50. I made varsity that year. And in my senior year my best was a 55.5 and a 23.9 I was the team's freestyle sprinter. I had my share of wins, but many other teams has guys doing in the 22s for 50 and 52-53 for 100. But I placed third in the 50 free in the conference meet and 4th in the 100. Placed 4rd in the 50 and 5th in the 100 in the county meet. I even was on a qualifying 200 medley relay and 4x100 freestyle relay for the state meet. Given where I started from, I have never lost pride in what I accomplished over those 4 years. I will be eternally grateful for the coach letting me on the team even though I didn't make the cut time as a freshman. (That was a life-defining decision he made, in retrospect.) I still can't do anything else athletic, but I can swim. And I do, and I never see myself stopping. At age 46 I can still break a minute (actually 58) for 100 free, and I do in the low 26s for 50. I can't quite match my personal bests in the sprints, but now I do distance events better than I ever could my senior year. I consider the 60+ agers at masters meets to be my role models. I want to be there when I'm 100!

Well, JC, let me tell you about my high school "career" in swimming. I have always been about as athletic as limp balloon. Couldn't run. (Still can't.) Couldn't jump. (Still can't.) I flunked Red Cross Beginner swimming as a kid... But eventually I learned to swim enough to get from this end to that end. No technique. No style. but good enough. So in my freshman year I decided to try out for the swim team. Nobody had faith in me. I had strong doubts myself. The team worked out for about a week before tryouts. To make the team, boys had to do a 50 free (yards) in 32 or less. I did 32.9, but there was still one last slot on the team and they let me join. I got into one meet that year. Swam the 2nd leg of a 4x100 free relay on the B team in a meet that we already had won after the first 4 or 5 events. In practice I was always able to do 100 no problem, but in the heat of battle I went out far too hard on the first 25 and thought I was going to die after 75. I thought of stopping at the 3rd turn, but compelled myself to finish for the sake of the other 3 guys on that relay. I did my leg in 1:24. I could barely climb out of the pool. Afterwards I endured a lot of ribbing for the lousy split, but I didn't care because I was thrilled inside to have finished the event. I was part of the team, and I proved something to myself. In my sophomore year I got my 100 down to 1:06 and my 50 to about 30 flat. I swam in most meets as the #3 guy when there was a 6-lane pool. (Some of our meets were in 4-lane pools.) I even earned a few points for the team, but not enough to make varsity. (Varsity and JV swan together. To get a varsity letter you had to average at least one 3rd place per meet.) In my junior year I set a goal of breaking a minute for 100 free. At my first meet that year as I was getting out of the pool after I swam the 100, I heard the timer giving my time to the judges. She was struggling to read the stopwatch. "One-oh-six-point... I can't read this..." At first my heart sank. I thought I had done better than 1:06. But it turns out that I did a 1:00.6, and I knew I was on my way. The first time I broke a minute it was in a meet I should have placed 2nd. But I placed 4th. The milestone event was tainted, even though I had done a personal best and broken an important goal. By the end of that year I was doing in the upper 57s for 100 and upper 27s for the 50. I made varsity that year. And in my senior year my best was a 55.5 and a 23.9 I was the team's freestyle sprinter. I had my share of wins, but many other teams has guys doing in the 22s for 50 and 52-53 for 100. But I placed third in the 50 free in the conference meet and 4th in the 100. Placed 4rd in the 50 and 5th in the 100 in the county meet. I even was on a qualifying 200 medley relay and 4x100 freestyle relay for the state meet. Given where I started from, I have never lost pride in what I accomplished over those 4 years. I will be eternally grateful for the coach letting me on the team even though I didn't make the cut time as a freshman. (That was a life-defining decision he made, in retrospect.) I still can't do anything else athletic, but I can swim. And I do, and I never see myself stopping. At age 46 I can still break a minute (actually 58) for 100 free, and I do in the low 26s for 50. I can't quite match my personal bests in the sprints, but now I do distance events better than I ever could my senior year. I consider the 60+ agers at masters meets to be my role models. I want to be there when I'm 100!