Swimming, Without Political Drama
I swam in the state masters meet this weekend — the mile last night and four events this morning. I am blogging on nothing more than anxiety and exhaustion. I’m home, a wee bit sunburned and very happy to have competed. And yes, I took knitting to the meet. I’m just that strange.
I notice that in true Kelli fashion I underestimated myself. My entry times were stupid slow — as in I swam in heats with an 81-year-old dude.
Yep, I beat that old man silly. Okay, really I waited in the water for him each time to finish and then shook his hand. I mean, how cool is it that he is still competing at 81? Lou and I were fast friends by this afternoon. He didn’t seem to mind I completed the mile 22 minutes faster than him and tread water the entire time waiting for his finish.
For the swimmers out there — did you learn to stay in the water until everyone is finished and shake hands with your competitors? I thought this was common courtesy. Safe to say this is not a level of competition that should be void of manners. Also safe to say I’ve got to find a new team to train with because next year I’ll be greeting Lou from the fast heat.
~K
- Posted in Triathlon, Good to Great, Get Fit
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I swan all through grade school and high school. I don’t remember staying in the water until everyone finished.
Of course, 27+ years later, my memory can be kind of hazey……..
March 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pmI take my knitting everywhere I go too. Did you hear about the 101 year old man in England running an upcoming marathon? He needs to stop every 5 miles for a ciggarette and a beer, true story…ciao
March 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm2nd pic from the bottom? Olympic worthy! Look at that form! I love your sportsladylike conduct, too. Oh, Lou. Love it. Congratulations!
March 29th, 2008 at 3:51 pmGo ahead, Sister! And, no: I did not learn that little tidbit of competitive swimming etiquette. Sure, it’s been 20 years since I swam on a team and I doubt I ever will again, but it’s still good to know.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pmSounds fun! I don’t know any of that swimming etiquette. I wish I would have swam on a team in high school, but instead I just feel clueless. =)
March 29th, 2008 at 5:10 pmYou know, in my years of competitive swimming I never was taught to wait at the end to shake hands with my opponents. Granted, I was pretty young then and probably didn’t hear anything they were saying, but still, that seems nice.
BTW: Nice butterfly.
March 29th, 2008 at 5:23 pmGreat story!! I’ve *got* to get involved with a swim group here in Sacramento, I miss the days when I took a summer college swim course…I wasn’t very good, but it made me love swimming.
)
March 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pmI don’t think most people are trained to be nice in the pool. I remember trying to get on the highschool swim team and everyone was very rude and the coach said I needed to leave the lane and go practice in the kid’s area. Wow. It still burns.
You go girl! That is nice…never knew that about swimming etiquette.
Loved all the greasy food you served earlier in the week…I would have eaten the veggie dish!
Yes, I would have brought knitting too.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:26 pmPool etiquette is big around the squad I swim with, and a big deal at Masters swim meets too. We always wait for the last person before anyone gets out of the pool at the end of a race. Sometimes there are ‘over the top’ starts, where the next race starts while the swimmers who just finished stick close to the wall, and the next race dives in ‘over the top’ of them. I’m going to come swim with you one day. We oughta be meeting up at the Masters World champs in Perth, Australia, in April!
March 29th, 2008 at 11:37 pmYeah! You are a true champion my friend
March 30th, 2008 at 1:44 amI’m not a swimmer and don’t know the rules, but Congrats to you!
March 30th, 2008 at 5:43 amVery DeCoubertin style, I have to say. Bravo to you! And to Lou of course….
March 30th, 2008 at 10:06 amYou are a class act Ms.Kelli!
March 30th, 2008 at 11:02 amWhen I was on swim team the rule was you had something like 30 seconds to get out of the pool after you touched or be disqualified. So no hand shaking for us. Of course, that was probably to keep the meet going and for kids, that might have been the only way to get us out.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:52 pmAwesome, Kelli! Another challenge well done and a wonderful act of graciousness.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:17 amCongrats! You really are amazing!
I have a good potential community dinner recipe on my blog today. Enjoy.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:28 amThe most organized swimming I did was at summer camp in a lake with tadpoles… The tadpoles were a bit bashful so there was no etiquette needed.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:36 amYou so completely rock, Kel.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:28 amYea, that Mesa Aquatics really paid off. BTW, we teach ‘em to count in Mesa! (Remember Todd?)
March 31st, 2008 at 7:32 amLove,
Moms
Good for you Kel. I miss swimming. I used to compete, but that was a long time ago!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:54 amyou rock, kelli! and i LOVE that you brought knitting to the meet. i was on the swim team in 4th grade, maybe 5th. i think i went to one meet. was always terrified of them…the fear of being last, i think.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:55 amThat’s awesome you are doing competition swimming. I did swim team in Jr High and I still think about taking it back up all the time. I just need a pool!
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm