A Reason to Smile

I was running late to practice today but I was lucky enough to bump into a former coach who allowed me to train while the lessons were going on in the pool. People are so accommodating.

I swam a 3,100 yard workout in a warm community pool, it was actually a pretty pathetic workout, I just couldn't rev it up. I had a few good quick sets but that was the extent of my achievement today.

Talking to a coach afterward I was informed that a lifeguard at the pool was quite intimidated by me (in a positive way). Apparently they are sort of afraid to talk to me and study how I train when I'm there. As you can imagine, I got a chuckle out of it. As I walked to the locker room I said hi to a parent sitting there, he said hi and followed immediately with "So I hear you're training for the Olympics". I smiled and promptly replied, "well, the Olympic Trials anyway". We had a brief exchange about his daughter who was swimming lessons and informed him that his daughters coach "Jen" trained me when I was a kid as well. He got a kick out of that and wished me well regarding training. The exchange was just one more reason to always say hi to people. I know that if I hadn't made the passing effort to communicate with a simple "hello" that we would have never had that positive, yet brief conversation.

There's something kind of refreshing about training at community pools. If you know me, you know I'm honest about everything including my abilities. If you know my times, you know I'm a slightly above average swimmer in the divisions I swim in. Therefore, lets be real for a moment:

• When I swim at Eastern, ZERO people notice my speed, stroke, training style, really anything at all. I don't blame them, there's not much to notice! I'm just another swimmer.
• When I swim at a community pool, I come across to others in the pool area as AN OLYMPIAN. I'm not kidding. Now, anybody who knows the differences in my times and an actual Olympian understands that comparison is comical at minimum. But that performance reality doesn't change what actually occurs when I step on the pool deck. I think we've all been in a situation when you feel everybody staring at you. I get that feeling pretty often at community pools. I know I'm not imagining it because I don't wish for it to happen. It makes me feel self conscious and a little paranoid. Yet, I hear people talking and I see people point. They watch me swim, watch the clock and then point to the record boards.

I've always prided myself in knowing exactly where I stand in the swimming world. I would never suggest I'm on the same level as the professional athletes out there. Yet somehow these situations, whether legitimate or not provide me with a little comedy, some inspiration, a good laugh, a story to tell family later, and a push to improve and actually BE the athlete these swimmers assume I am.

So to all those who assume I'm a amazing swimmer, I'm training hard to achieve what you believe me to be already. I hope to make you, and myself proud someday.