I have defined myself as a swimmer since I was six; and it was then when I began swimming competitively year round. I have qualified for Junior Olympics, swam in the Ohio State Championships three years in a row in high school, was a four year letter winner in both high school and college, qualified for nationals on a relay, broke four masters records at a meet this year, and still continue my journey in masters swimming. The thing about my swimming career though, which frustrated every single one of my coaches was that I was/am a practice swimmer. For those of you who don't know what that is; it's a swimmer who pulls all their best times in practice and when competition comes, I couldn't pull those times. It wasn't for lack of competitiveness, it was mental, I think, but I couldn't get around it. Test sets were where I shined, whether be 6x100s on 10:00 off the block, broken 200s off the block or holding your best average on 500s, I was your girl to pull out spectacular times, and times that were 90% faster than my meet times. Not only am I a practice swimmer, I am also the most consistent swimmer. If you need someone to swim a 2:00.00 in the 200 free, I'm your girl. If you need someone to hold 1:08s for a mile, I'm your girl. I'd pull the same times over and over again, guess it's better than someone who fluctuates with times so much. Starts are my thing and turns are my weakness, I prefer endurance workouts than speed workouts and the way I feel in the water is like no other. I could have had the worst day possible and the instant I get into the pool, everything gets better and I instantly feel at home.
The hard thing for me becomes the moment when you realize your goals and who you define yourself as are two different things. I'm a swimmer and this season I was an aquabiker, but when I introduced myself to people I said I was a triathlete, but a swimmer first. Always a swimmer first. My past as a "swimmer" will always still be there, and my swimming ability won't go away, it will make me stand out as I progress into the new goals in my athletic career, which requires me to define myself as a triathlete.
Most triathletes weakest sport is the swim, that's where I take control and start the race off strong. However, the swim portion of the triathlon sets the stage for the rest of the race. If you go out too strong, you risk "blowing up" in the bike or run, but if you go out too slow, you risk not being able to come back. Dr. Amanda Stevens is a very successful and well decorated triathlete. For her, the swim is easy, she has a background in swimming. She mentions what swimmers bring to the sport of triathlon and states, "Luckily for us swimmers, from a technical standpoint, swimming is the hardest of the three sports to learn," Stevens said. "Swimmers develop so many success skills growing up in the pool: hard work, dedication, passion, desire for success, competitiveness, goal-setting, time management and self-discipline."
I think swimming is one of the sports that requires the most commitment and insanity. It's one of the sports that provides the most skills, such as Dr. Stevens stated, but triathlon is similar in that realm. You work as hard as a swimmer, but instead of having just the swim, dryland and weight training, you have the swim, the bike, the run, the rehab, the stretching, and the weight training. You get up before the crack of dawn, just like a swimmer, and you practice then go to work, then you come home and you train more. It takes the commitment and insanity that I've had in my life since I was six. Although I'm moving on from the title of swimmer, I'm still holding on to all the other things that make up a swimmer. I am still apart of a team, I still have a coach, I still workout many hours a week, I still challenge my body and my mind, and I am still a competitive, dedicated, passionate, hardworking, goal-setting athlete who desires success and improvement, what more could you ask for?
Maybe it's a good thing, because if you caught it above, I like starts, not turns and I like endurance, not sprints. I dislike the two things that aren't present in triathlons. Open water was something I was terrified of, now it's something I love; although I still freak out when I can see the bottom, and freak out when I can't see the bottom. Open water offers the endurance swimmer, like me, to eliminate the one thing that brought her down in races....the turn. With the elimination of flip turns, I can swim, keep swimming, and keep going with knowing I'm not losing to the person next to me because my turns suck, I'm losing to them because they're better than me.
I will always be a swimmer. But I will be a triathlete who defined herself as a swimmer because of her successful career in the pool. I will still buy swimsuits and goggles and love watching the PanAms, Duel in the Pool and the summer olympics because I still love the pool. I am a triathlete and I have my own goals which may, or may not, involve being a force to be reckoned with in the water, all the while being able to control that so I can be a force to be reckoned with on the bike and run.
I am a triathlete.
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