By Katie Lafferty, Swimming World College Intern.
Throughout the many years swimmers spend training and competing, there is bound to be a bump in the road where training is derailed. This bump in the road could be injury, illness, or simply just needing a break from the sport because of burnout.
Between the countless hours spent in the pool, weight room, and traveling each week, the bump in the road swimmers may face may seem like the end of the world. There isn’t really a good way to avoid this bump, but knowing that going back to swimming can help you feel normal again is a huge help. One thing that many swimmers know is that swimming can be an equalizer.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Throughout my senior year of high school, I was swimming faster than I ever had. I finally had that “aha season” where my training was finally paying off. I saw the hard work paying off each day at practice and other people saw the results of years of hard work and dedication each time I stepped up on the blocks. However, what many people didn’t see was the pain and intense fatigue that I felt every time I raced, which was soon to be the biggest bump in the road I would ever face in my swimming career.
This was one of the first times I realized that in the sport of swimming, it doesn’t matter what people can or cannot see, everyone’s competing for the same thing, a new best time.
This became very evident to me after surgery to remove a tumor from my abdomen. People couldn’t see the eight inch scar that I was now the proud owner of, they could only see a young girl racing, just like everyone else in the pool. As a spectator, one could only see that the individuals racing were all equal to each other, racing the same event being timed by the same equipment.
Photo Courtesy: Katie Lafferty
Throughout chemotherapy my hair eventually fell out. Once again this was proof to me that swimming treats everyone as an equal. Each day I managed to get to the pool, I would put on my swim cap, jump in, and swim a workout. Just like everyone else in the pool, I was at practice to get better.
The pool didn’t care if I had hair or if I was completely bald. The pool is neutral to everyone, and treats everyone the same, no matter the talent of the athlete.
That’s the thing about swimming, it’s not up to someone else to judge you and tell you how well you did, like in the sport of gymnastics. It’s not up to you and your teammates to score the most goals or points, like in soccer or football.
Swimming is between you and the clock. Everyone is being timed at the same rate with the same equipment. Everyone is swimming the same distance of the pool during each race. The sport of swimming equalizes everyone and gives everyone the same chance at success.
Photo Courtesy: Arizona Republic-USA TODAY Sports
It doesn’t matter if you are Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, or someone just learning to swim. The pool treats everyone the same. Being in the pool helps to create an equalizer throughout life. You might speak English or you might not speak at all, but the pool doesn’t know that. The pool knows that you are here to race.
When you are in the water, no matter what is going on in the outside world, you and everyone else around you are equal. No matter the bump in the road one may be facing, the pool treats everyone the same. Swimming brings the world together, no matter the difficulties someone may be facing.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Bonito