Back in the Pool, One Year Later

Last year, the London Olympics rekindled my love for swimming. It had sort of died out after I got to college and decided I'd rather hang out with everyone in Fitten than keep going to swim club after the first week (which I fully regret, by the way- not that it wasn't fun hanging out with everyone, but I really could have used some regular exercise). But when Olympic trials rolled around last year, I got right back in the swing of things. I was following swimmers on Twitter, watching all the races and the ridiculous "Call Me Maybe" video, but eventually I realized I wanted to get back in the pool too. So, a year ago yesterday, I went back to the Augusta Aquatics Center for the first time.

Starting out was rough, I'll admit that. My first huge struggle was finding a suit that actually fit me- yes, trying on one-piece competition-style suits is just as stressful as trying on bikinis. It took me a lot of searching and frustrated trying on to find a cut that fit me, but the TYR diamond-fit actually ended up fitting me perfectly. So just as long as they don't discontinue it, I'm good to go for a while.

It was also rough just getting back into the water. Swimming isn't one of those things you just forget how to do, so I didn't have problems remembering the strokes or anything, However, I was never the fastest swimmer to begin with (I was really one of the slowest) and being out of the pool for four years did not do me any favors.  That first day in the water, I swam 950 yards in 35 minutes and I remember being completely exhausted and taking tons of breaks. But by October I was up to 2000 yards in 50 minutes, and in November I started kicking it up to 3000 yards. Today, I swam 3000 yards in 70 minutes, including one 800 freestyle, which was practically my entire workout when I started.

I've been keeping up with my swims with Speedo's Pace Club app. I have logged 55 swims, so more than one per week on average (most weeks I would try to go at least two times, but there were periods of time where I had longer gaps between swims). In 47 hours and 34 minutes, I have swum over 118,000 yards. For someone who tends to give up on things pretty quickly, that's a huge accomplishment. I definitely couldn't have done it without the support and encouragement of my family and friends, especially all the new swimming friends I've made over the past year. So thanks for everything, and here's to another year in the water.