Wave of Enthusiasm

As many of you know, I used to be a competitive swimmer. I swam through the end of my sophomore year in college, at which point I could barely see a pool without thinking something negative. I hadn't gotten much faster after high school swimming (which had been intense in a different way) and whereas in high school I was team captain for two years, unfailingly positive and encouraging to everyone all the time, working extremely hard, in college I was already somewhat cynical about the whole thing. And while it was good swimming with women, many of whom were my friends, I had to admit that I missed the boys' swim team, especially two swimmers I loved. It just wasn't the same, and we rarely had a rip-roaring, "win or die" meet in college, mostly because we won everything and there were usually about 3 spectators--our captain's MIT boyfriend, a few roommates.

Since college, I've gotten back into the water a few times, but never in a lasting way. Last week, however, something changed. I met an awesome woman who is a former Olympian, All-American, All-American Masters' swimmer who holds numerous national records--and she is really, really cool. Unlike many people from home who are obsessed with swimming and with triviality and have never read a newspaper, this woman is a great swimmer, she's incredibly nice, and she's interested in the role of race in the sport, as well as class. In other words, she reads the paper, she has a clue, she has ideas that extend beyond winning a meaningless summer championship.

She also seems to be a kindred soul, which is somewhat surprising given our respective backgrounds--I haven't been swimming forever, and I enjoy running now, so swimming isn't essential for me. But sometimes in life we meet people who inspire us in funny ways, and meeting her means that I will probably get back in the water once more--we'll see how it goes--with a fresh outlook on a sport that I remember I love.

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