Everyone knows that there is just something about swimmers that make them a little bit different than other athletes, there are some “just swimmer things”. Well, I’ve officially been a “swammer” for about 8 months now, and I’ve realized that there are some things I’ve noticed in my retirement that are “just swammer things”.
No longer having that “eau de chlorine” perfume – This one is pretty nice actually. Now, when I walk into a room, I don’t have to hear someone ask about why it suddenly smells like a pool. After 14 years of constantly being in the water, I had my doubts if I would ever rid myself of the chlorine smell. These days, if I do get a whiff of that chlorine smell, it does still kinda remind me of home.
Having to get used to land activity– The land was not kind to me in my first month of attempting to work out after I finished swimming. I decided to attempt running and quickly fractured my ankle and ended up in a boot for 6 weeks. I learned my lesson in easing into things, but I am definitely still working on that whole coordination thing…
No Shave November- At some point in every swimmer’s career, whether girl or guy, they have gone a few months without shaving before a meet. I think this is the first time in like 8 years that I’m actually allowed to shave my legs in the month of November. I can’t say that I miss going a few months without shaving before a championship meet, but I can confirm that it did save quite a bit of shower time.
Hair – Since I’m on the subject of hair, let’s talk about the hair on our heads. Anyone who wears a swim cap every day may start to notice the little baby hairs around the edges of where your cap sits. Your cap is brutal to these little hairs, ripping them out at every chance it gets. Since I haven’t worn a cap that much in the past few months, I’ve noticed that they are starting to grow back in. The flyaway hairs on my head are annoying now, but I’m glad that they are actually recovering. I’ve also noticed that my hair is actually curlier than I thought it was?? Without the constant washing and chemical abuse, it has been slowly making a recovery. I can’t say that I don’t still rock the messy swimmer bun from time to time.
Lap Swimming – While I haven’t had much time to swim lately, grad school is tough y’all, I do try to go splash around every once and a while for fun. It is so strange just to get in a do whatever I want. It’s a little boring to be honest. It is also very strange because it’s been long enough since I constantly swam that I feel super weird in the water every time I get in. Yet, I still find myself analyzing my stroke and just being hyper-aware of when my technique is off. A month or so ago as I was putting on my cap and goggles, I got asked by a guy, who I suspect was a football player, if I wanted to race. Of course, I said sure, why not. He pretty quickly changed his mind about it, which gave me a good laugh.
You miss it – Ahhh, there it is. I know, I know, you probably expected me to get sappy here at the end. It’s true though, I do miss it. I miss practicing with my friends, I miss working on my stroke, I miss my coaches, and I miss racing. It was hard for me at first to come to terms with the fact that I was officially a swammer. But, at the end of the day, I can look back and know that swimming shaped me into who I am today, and that really, once a swimmer, always a swimmer.
hop back in and do masters, i started again after a year in med school and started dropping best times (in sprints)