I want to ask questions about the life of a Champion.
If you are a World Record Holder, a National Record Holder, a State/Provincial record holder, a Club record holder, or even if you've recently gone a personal best; I want to know how you feel about being a Champion.
Masters win, regardless of place!
See, doing your best, no matter what level you achieve is a great experience. The feeling of improvement from consistent effort is something that anyone can attain. That joy is the same when you finish a race and you know it was your best, a great lifestyle, something worth striving for.
Since I've already started a discussion with Chris Stevenson, perhaps we can continue it here.
Chris, even though you may not have smiled at first (on camera anyways) how did the next few days feel? Are these your first WR titles? Do you plan on more in the future? You're a chemistry teacher, right? Do you realize you've inspired me, and countless others?
I'm 1/4 of two mixed 800 SCM free national records... and it feels pretty good! It is nice to brag about - I have the certificate from the first one framed and in our family room area.
But having just set the second record, I feel a great sense of accomplishment as well as amazement. My split was over 3 seconds faster than my fastest previous individual 200SCM free. It also came a bit over three months from a pretty serious knee injury that kept me out of the pool for a month and in limited action for most of the fall. I was shocked at how fast I went. Finally, it was also nice to share the accomplishment with my gf, as she led us off and this was her first national record.
Also, Chris, I didn't really take up swimming until pretty late... swam summer leagues since age 6, joined my HS team for only my JR & SR years, and then joined my masters team once I got to college. No USS or NCAA experience for me. So I didn't technically pick up the sport as an adult, but still pride myself on the fact that my swim career is pretty much all USMS-related.
A great story. Relay swimming is a fun thing -- hopefully you can recapture that swim in an individual event sometime soon!
I'm 1/4 of two mixed 800 SCM free national records... and it feels pretty good! It is nice to brag about - I have the certificate from the first one framed and in our family room area.
But having just set the second record, I feel a great sense of accomplishment as well as amazement. My split was over 3 seconds faster than my fastest previous individual 200SCM free. It also came a bit over three months from a pretty serious knee injury that kept me out of the pool for a month and in limited action for most of the fall. I was shocked at how fast I went. Finally, it was also nice to share the accomplishment with my gf, as she led us off and this was her first national record.
Also, Chris, I didn't really take up swimming until pretty late... swam summer leagues since age 6, joined my HS team for only my JR & SR years, and then joined my masters team once I got to college. No USS or NCAA experience for me. So I didn't technically pick up the sport as an adult, but still pride myself on the fact that my swim career is pretty much all USMS-related.
A great story. Relay swimming is a fun thing -- hopefully you can recapture that swim in an individual event sometime soon!
