Swimming is one of those sports with its own culture, language, and rules. We are not people who swam, or a swim player, we identify as SWIMMERS. From whatever age a swimmer begins club swimming, his/her character changes, and he/she transforms into a swimmer. A swimmer that makes it through club and then college swimming knows that he/she is part of a unique society and even years after retirement, the brotherhood/sisterhood still exists.
We can tell the difference when someone says to us, oh I swam in high school also. Whether we reply with a small smirk, or a simple nod, we know that this is a person that swam, not a swimmer. There is nothing wrong with this person, but he/she is not a part of the fraternity.
This person most likely did not:
- swim twice a day every week day
- Swim on Saturdays and Sundays.
- lift weights,
- climb ropes,
- run miles,
- do calisthenics,
- Engage in any new invention coach comes up with or reads about and therefore become a guinea pig.
- Have crazy tan lines – suits and cap and goggles – over the summer.
- Share private jokes with teammates that most swimmers understand
- Go to prom with someone on the team and feel like you went on a date with your brother/sister
- Know every intimate detail about your entire team, most things parents will never find out about
- Go to swim meets that lasted 4 or more days, trials and finals, and be counted on to swim a personal best all the way through an exhausting weekend.
- Have parents willing to sit through the entire weekend and cheer for you and the team
- Have team mates willing to put it all on the line for the team
However, if a person says to you, I was a swimmer, it’s a different language, and a knowing nod is all the communication needed. As someone who now swims Masters, It is amusing to find fellow old swimmers; those with whom we can share the remember when tales. For example:
- The hardest set I ever did…
- Remember when we had to run stadium steps and then suicides for an hour
- When 200 sit-ups or V-seats were “easy”
- The kick board grab your lane mate’s arm and pull each other so you get a bit of momentum for a split second
- Pulling on the lane line in backstroke
- The best meet ever…
- The shaving cream fight
- Making our first All-Star Team
- Making Junior Nationals
- Making Senior Nationals, Olympic Trials…
- Signing the letter of intent
- Going to a slumber party, but being picked up at 9pm because you had practice the next morning
- Nicknames only your team understood
- The craziest thing coach ever did
- Team relationships
- Sprinters taper vs. distance taper (I was a 200 flyer and distant swimmer – my taper consisted of dropping from 9000 yards/day to 5000, while the sprinters would do a warm up, 2 sprints and a warm down… oh how the ribbing went then)
- Out of town meets
- Being able to consume 5000 calories/day and maintain a 12% body fat
- Ripped bodies
- What we did to get out of a set, Including:
- Bathroom
- Goggles broke
- Cramp
- Swallowed water
- My finger got stuck in the lane line
- Have a lot of homework – Coach always said student-athlete
- Hit head on the wall
- Cap came off
- Breathing hard, panting, coach I am just exhausted
- But most important, the friends we made (even some in common), the special moments we experienced, and the positive things swimming taught, consisting of:
- Discipline
- Goal-setting
- Time management
- I can do more than I thought possible
- Toughness – physical and mental
- Working optimally both as an individual and as a member of a team
- Sportsmanship
- The power of positivity
I will always identify as a swimmer, and am thankful for the opportunities that were provided, the friendships made, the competitiveness and the drive given to me because I was a swimmer.