Out of curiosity, what brought you to swim?
I'm a fitness swimmer now and do OW races for fun. I began swimming as an alternative to running, I had taken a swim class in college that demonstrated routines and corrected my form enough to do well without getting frustrated or feel intimidated. When I had trouble running I would go swim instead. I began swimming regularly to train for the Long beach triathlon years ago. Now I enjoy swimming just as much as running...it's a new challenge as well as a great stress release for me. I'm just finishing up my credential and will be transitioning from a career in IT to teaching, which means that i'll be open to joining a masters team soon! Wohoo!
Here's the question....
Why did you start?
When?
What's your day job?
I was afraid of the water until I was about 10 years old. We had an above ground pool in the back yard and all I'd do was float on an inner tube. Then one day a neighbor was swimming while I was floating. He came up under the inner tube and accidentally flipped me over. I went in head and face first, eyes and mouth wide open. I came up laughing. Soon after, my sister joined a swim team and shortly after that I did too. Swam middle school, high school, college. Then 10 years off and back to swimming due to a job loss. Have been swimming masters now for 10 years.
I fell down the stairs at age 37. After surgery, 10 weeks in a hospital bed and 10 months on/off crutches, the doctor gave me the bad news that racewalking/running was out, but I could probably swim. The problem was that I didn't know how to swim, so at age 39 I learned by reading the first Total Immersion book and watching the better adult swimmers at the pool. I now really love it, especially the open water aspect, but would go back to racewalking if I had to make a choice.
Day job: Minion of Evil. (Software systems designer and mathematician for a large marketing data company.) It pays the bills, but... Also own a small horse stabling operation.
-LBJ
