On Alumni and Life After Swimming (if we make it that far)

January 11, 2009: Training Trip Day 6

I managed to leave my room and the NFC divisional game (even Mark Fino came over because we have HD) to make this blog update because I care so much about you, the reader.

-Illness update: Thanks to the magic of medication, I have my head cold under a fair amount of control and (hopefully) will be able to get rid of it in a few more days (just in time to leave Florida!). There are only a few problems left with this stupid cold. The first is that whatever leftover mucus is busy collecting itself in my throat and constricting my breathing. Let me tell you, swimming while you're coughing out phlegm trying to get a full breath is pretty much the complete opposite of fun. The other good news that this cold provides is that I've started hearing complaints from my teammates that they're catching what I have. I guess that the team that sticks together sicks together.

-I've been hearing a lot of positive feedback about the blog. Although we have a small time/place window for receiving wireless, the other swimmers have been giving me a good amount of feedback and I've heard through the grapevine that we've got some swimmers' parents and other college-affiliated people reading. Thanks a lot!

-Finding a radio station to listen to down here in Key Largo is sometimes difficult. I'm pretty sure that my standard traveling vehicle, the golden Kia with the slightly risqué name driven by Mark Muthersbaugh, has some sort of radio deficiency like a chopped-off antenna or something, because we are constantly getting fuzzy reception (although maybe the problem is listening to a station that purports to be radio for "Key West and Cuba"). While the drivers with fancier vans get satellite radio (among other perks like in-van TV and a little screen that shows what's behind you), we have to obey the whims of the capricious radio gods, which sometimes leads to impromptu car dance parties.

So.... yeah, anyways,

Last night we had a pleasant little surprise. Not a pleasant surprise on the "practice is cancelled" level, but still a nice one. Fred Bobb, Oberlin '79, came by to see our practice and do a little swim-off. Since Fred is a breaststroker, he swam me and the three other Oberlin breaststrokers (Bud, Jebran, and Mike) in a short little fun 50-meter race. While we beat Fred, he certainly gave us a run for our money.

We got to talk to Fred a little bit before the race and learned a few very interesting things (not least that he's reading the blog: Hi Fred!). He's still swimming twice a day, and involved in Masters swimming (even making qualifying times for Nats!).

Thinking about Fred makes me think about my own future with swimming. I've been swimming since I was 6, so I've got 15 years of competitive swimming behind me and only one more to go. Will I continue to swim like Fred did? Probably not.

With all of my bellyaching about how rough swimming is and how much it sucks, I wonder if I'll miss it. People I talk to that stopped swimming after high school or who have graduated college always say they miss swimming (though usually with the qualification that they don't miss the practices).

Will I swim for recreation or exercise? I'll probably need the exercise to keep in shape, but I'm dreadfully unmotivated on my own. Even though swimming is a great exercise for older people or those young people that already have joint issues (thanks to swimming), I don't know if I will find the time in my life after Oberlin.

Sometimes that makes me sad. But other times I remember what swimming has put me through (with stuff like this week) and I'm not too concerned about giving it up.

Speaking of this week, only four practices left!

Total Meters Gone: 46,240 (+meet)