angela's blog

So yesterday I finally talked to a couple of the Wash U swimmers. And while yes, they did break 7 pool records on the way to winning the invitational at U. of Chicago last weekend, I was a little bit off in declaring the importance of their accomplishments. It's a brand new pool. They've only been using it this season. It's only November. Those records will be smashed over and over again. Conference is being held there this year. Those records will be shattered. When I saw it was U. Chicago and I looked at some of the times I sort of wondered about the actual impact of their performances and I admit I was a little skeptical but hey, pool records are pool records in some strange way. After talking to Jess and Sarah about the circumstances under which they swam that meet, I realized that there are things I miss and things I don't about the college swimming circuit. The meet in Chicago started at 10 am. That means roughly 8:30 warm-up. It's a 4 hour drive to Chicago. They didn't stay overnight. You do the math. Yup, the team left at 4 AM on Saturday, drove to Chicago, swam from 10-4, grabbed dinner, were back in St. Louis at 11 PM. The meet from HELL. And Sarah, my hero obviously, swam these events: 1650 (mile) free, 500 free, 400 IM, 4x200 free relay, 4x100 free relay. Toughest girl out there. Who DOES that? And lives to tell the tale? It's meets like these, where the team survives a freakishly difficult weekend, that make a season. I'm not saying it doesn't suck. These meets SUCK. But you look back and you go, "Wow, that sucked. But we made the best of it." And that's what the girls did. The last couple of weeks I've really come to miss the pool. I can't remember the last time I was out of the pool for this long. It's been months. Even before I started swimming high school, I still went and swam with a makeshift team 3 times a week. I never raced but I was in the water. At that point it wasn't something I loved, it was something I had to do. Once I got into high school, the racing got me hooked. I was an addict and chlorine was my fix. There's nothing like it. And I miss it. A lot. And then when I got to college and the team became my life, there was nothing like that, either. I miss that. A whole lot. There's something comforting, albeit insane, about knowing that every morning at 7 I have practice. There's something comforting about knowing that every night at 4 I have practice. There was always something crazily special about leaving the AC with the team for dinner. Knowing that Wednesday was lactate day ... knowing that Saturday was test set day (okay, so Saturdays were not fun). There was something about the fact that we all suffered together. And like idiots we all loved it. Otherwise we wouldn't have stuck it out so long. My girls, Jess, Bri and Sarah, are graduating this year. I hope they relish every second of their senior seasons: the ups, the downs, the pain, the insanity (Brad has become officially certifiable I think), but also the love and the work and the time that goes into all of it. I miss it all. I wish I could afford to swim around here. I wish I had the discipline to do what I did. Mostly I just wish for that feeling back ... the one where you're surrounded by your best friends, doing something you love, and nothing can stop you ... or maybe the one where you're standing behind the blocks and the starter says, "Ladies, step up ..." and your heart rate goes up, you shake yourself lose, and you climb onto the block ... or maybe the one where a split second before you turn and look at the clock you wonder what your time is going to be ... or the one where you nail a set in practice ... or the one where your teammates are cheering so loudly you know you swam well ... or the one where the coaches work with you because they know you can be a faster swimmer ... or how the smell of chlorine can excite you. The greatest gift to me right now ... time at a pool. I think I just miss the pool ... for me to look at it and have it go, "Come on in ... the water's fine."

Posted by Mrs. Cooper on 11.16.2004 at 11/16/2004 09:47:00 AM | Permalink