Swimming Life

There are a number of regrets I have had in my life, but quitting competitive swimming when I was twelve is one of my bigger regrets. In 1972 Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals at the summer Olympics. After seeing that, I wanted to be just like him. I had already learned to swim at that point and spent a great deal of time at the local swimming pool. The local pool allowed you to swim without a parent present once you passed your test. The test was being able to competently swim two lengths of the pool. Once passing your test, you were also allowed to go in the deep end and use the big slide. Neither of which are deep or big by today's standards, but it was a pretty big deal back then. I spent most of my summers as a child in nothing but a swimsuit. I would hop on my bike with a towel around my neck and ride down to the pool whenever I could. 

I believe I was 6 years old when I joined the swim team and started swimming in 8 and under events. I don't think I won any events that first year, but in the winter my parents put me in the Ann Arbor Swim Club (AASC) and I started swimming in AAU events. When I was seven, I started placing in events, and my dad made me my first ribbon board. He painted it light blue and labeled each ribbon with the date and location of each meet with press on lettering he had in his office. I started swimming with different coaches and at different locations. 

One of the first coaches I had was named Greg, and he coached at Clague Middle School near my house. I don't remember him all that well, but I remember liking him. I think the group there was a beginner group, so as I improved, I got moved to a different workout. I remember years later that Greg went camping with his girlfriend and their tent got hit by lightning. I believe his girlfriend died and he was deaf afterward. I never heard whether his hearing came back or not. 

The next coach I had was named Laura, and I initially did workouts at Mack Pool on the west side of Ann Arbor. Laura had qualified for the Olympics, and she specialized in the backstroke. She taught me to do the old style pivot turn for backstroke. Back in those days it was illegal to turn over on your front the way they do it today. I became really good at the backstroke and at the age of ten, I came in 20th in the state in the 100 meter back. That was the peak of my swimming career. 

In the summer when I was nine years old, my dad took me to swim camp in Vincennes, Indiana. I spent a week at the camp, and I think it was the first time I was away from home alone. I remember "Rich Girl" by Hall and Oats was the number one song on the radio. At home my dad always listened to classical and opera, so I didn't have a lot of musical exposure and that song really stuck in my mind. I was always socially awkward, so I had some trouble sharing a room with three other kids whom I didn't know and were older than I was. I remember being really homesick and wanting to go home in the middle of the week. The other kids had found a care package my mom had sent with me, and they stole all my snacks and I caught them eating them. I did make it through the week though, and I think I enjoyed the experience. I remember really liking pizza and movie night at the end of the week. 

The workouts at camp were really tough. We had to get up in the morning and swim, then we would go to breakfast. After breakfast we would have a clinic of some type that was out of the water. Then we would swim again before lunch. I think we had a break in the afternoon where we would do some kind of other activity. Then we would swim again before dinner. After dinner we had free time until it was time to go to bed. Most of these memories are very cloudy, but the number one memory was one of the coaches who when you were doing something wrong would throw a kick board at you. I was amazed at his skill and accuracy across an eight lane pool being able to hit a moving target. I really enjoyed watching him launch these pieces of water logged foam across the pool and pummel an unsuspecting swimmer. 

The following summer when I was ten, I went to the swim camp again. This time I stayed for two weeks, and I had a friend with me for at least one of the weeks. I think his name was Nicolas. I believe Carol also went that year, but for only one week. I don't really remember much from that year except that the "Just A Song Before I Go" from Crosby Stills, and Nash was the number one on the radio. I also remember that prior to going to camp, I couldn't swim the butterfly without getting disqualified, and afterward I was able to. I can't swim it at all today, but I do remember that when I finally figured it out it was just about getting the rhythm of the kick and arms right. 

There were a couple of other coaches that I worked out with at the AASC that I don't really remember, but the head coach of the swim team the entire time I was there was Johanna High. She was a tough coach to swim for. I think she was also the Huron High School coach. She really didn't seem to like kids very much, and I rarely ever saw her smile. After doing well in the state championships, I got put her group. The problem with age groups is that you do well when you are at the top of one, but the following year you are at the bottom of another. When I was eleven, I was in the 11-12 age group and didn't do very well. 

Carol was still in the 8 & under group and doing very well, so my parents had to split their time between the two of us. I wasn't enjoying swimming very much anymore and there were a lot of things going on in my life at that point, so I really stopped trying. My dad had suggested that I join the swim team in junior high, but I never did. I didn't fit in at all in Junior High school and I avoided anything that had to do with school. I had thought I would try football, but after the first day someone had broken into my locker and stolen my shoes, so I had to quit. It was hard enough to find the first pair of size 14 cleats, I couldn't go through that again. 

After the age of twelve I never swam competitively or played any team sports again. Up until that time, I had been skinny as a rail, and I never thought I would gain weight. By the time I got to high school, I was one of the fat kids, and I have struggled with weight every since. I often wonder if I had joined the swim team and made an effort if that would have made a difference in my academic success as well as my overall fitness. When I think about all the bad decisions that I made after that that might have been avoided, it makes me really wonder how different things would have been.

I still enjoy swimming and doing anything in the water. I have even done a number of triathlons in the past few years, but in reality, I was just competing with myself. I still have decent technique with the front crawl and breast stroke, but I can't do backstroke or butterfly at all anymore. I can still swim over a mile without stopping and it makes me happy. Like everything else, I just have to find the time to do it.