Dismal yet Inspiring

Well I am sure you’re all curious as to how I did in the corporate challenge swim competition…

WHAT A RUSH! Despite my less than stellar performance I am very glad that I signed up. Never in my life can I remember competing in anything remotely like this. I knew I was on to something good when I actually had fear building up inside my body. The nerves were ridiculous, however felt great to push through. It was also interesting to hear the many thoughts racing through my head during the swim. I was dying inside but I knew I had to push through. My only goal at the half way point was to not be the last person to finish. That was a goal that I managed to achieve.

So without any formal swim training or coaching, not having swam in over a month, and still getting used to my new body I managed to pull in a swim time of 1:52 for the 100m swim in a 25m pool (4 lengths). Nothing to write home about by any means but a benchmark for me to work from. To put things in perspective for you here are some comparative numbers:

• I had a time of 1:52
• The rock hard muscle god lifeguard that swam before me had a time of 1:08
• Olympic medalist Ricky Berens (pictured below) lists a personal best of 0:48.44
• It looks like the current world record on a short course (25m pool) is 0:44.94

Maybe someday I will swim with a time and a body a bit closer to our friend Ricky…?

PS I didn’t warm up because I thought it would steal energy. Well after my 100m swim I was dying and didn’t know how I would finish the Team Relay 150m. Turns out that my 100m swim served as a warm up, and my body felt great during the 150m relay. I wasn’t shaking or in half as much pain as my first race. These must be tips you would learn with proper training.