-
Anyone Still Believe Me?
May 21, 2013 | 34 comments
-
What Those Who Boycott Israel Really Want
May 14, 2013 | 143 comments
-
Mitt on Marriage
May 8, 2013 | 38 comments
-
The One Constant
May 1, 2013 | 118 comments
-
Trudeaus and Terrorism
April 22, 2013 | 15 comments
Another Perspective
When All Goes Swimmingly
What a dozen laps can mean.
As Michael Phelps attempts to become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history at the London games, across the pond at a municipal swimming pool in Boston, a man nearing forty will get in his dozen or so laps four days a week. This man is modest in his ambitions and has no illusions about his ability as there are men twenty years older who can swim far faster. His repertoire is limited to dog paddling. But it gets him from one end of the pool to the other and that is all that matters. There will be no one cheering him on and this suits him just fine. In fact, he likes it best when he has the slow lane all to himself. It is that moment when he is without a worry in the world. His worries can wait. This is when all goes swimmingly.
It wasn’t always so. For nearly half his life, he could not swim although not for lack of trying. His mother took him and his siblings for lessons and though he tried he could not get the hang of it. He was afraid of both the water and the other children. Although his mother stressed the importance of learning how to swim, this boy simply dreaded going to the pool. He could not imagine ever being able to swim.
I know this because I am both the boy and man in question.
Things would change after entering university. During my freshman year, I lived in a co-ed residence. As with most freshman males, I wanted to socialize with the fairer sex. It wasn’t easy but one night an opportunity seemed to present itself with not one, but two young women. All seemed to go swimmingly until one of them suggested we actually go swimming. Normally I would not have even entertained the idea. But I was not going to pass up this opportunity even if I couldn’t swim. So I took the plunge.
I should add that I was overweight at the time and feeling self conscious I wore a t-shirt with my bathing suit. It became quickly apparent that this was going to be awkward. Don’t get me wrong. The young women were nice about it but it was clear nothing was going to come of it. I don’t know if it was pride but something in me decided that I to do something about this deficiency. For the first time in my life, I swam a handful of strokes on my own. It was only a few feet. But I realized this was something I could do. I just needed to practice on my own and at my own speed.
Soon I was at the pool several nights a week with the women now an afterthought. The pool was a godsend. Life in residence revolved around drinking and drugs. I had just given up drinking and was not interested in drugs nor did I want to be around people in those altered states. So while others were getting drunk and stoned, I was learning how to swim and was losing weight. It wasn’t long before I jettisoned the t-shirt. You’ve probably heard about the “freshman fifteen.” In my freshman year, I lost forty pounds. It was the first year I was away from home and it was a difficult adjustment. I don’t know what would have happened if I had not taught myself to swim that year.
I moved off campus the following year and, despite good intentions, as time went by swimming became a sporadic activity. But as the sunset of my thirties approached I realized that I did not want to go to seed and that it was incumbent upon me to partake in regular physical activity. So over the past 3½ years I have rededicated myself to swimming. As of 2012, I have made a point of going swimming four days a week. Oh, I admit there are many days when I do not want to go. After a busy day at my day job, I would rather go home to sit on the couch and watch a ballgame or a current events show or surf the web. But prudence prevails upon me and I make the trek down to the pool. When I have finished my swim, I almost always feel better for having gone.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my Mom has occasionally expressed skepticism about my swimming. She asks, “Are you sure your feet don’t touch the bottom of the pool?” But my younger brother Micah can attest that I can swim after we took a brief dip into Atlantic during a visit to Nova Scotia last summer.
But there’s nothing like swimming in fresh water. My favorite spot to swim is at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, just a couple of miles away from where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at the Old North Bridge. Alas, on most days I am content with chlorine.
The dedication of Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and the other members of the U.S. swim team is nothing short of astonishing. Yet I’m sure if President Obama had another candid moment he would tell them that they didn’t earn their gold medals. After all, someone else built the pool and they benefitted from good coaching. But it isn’t a question of who built the pool. It’s a question of the time you spend in the pool. As for guidance, a swimming coach can lead you to water but he or she can’t set a world record for you.
I must emphasize that I have no special skill at swimming. Yet if you were to ask me about my proudest accomplishments of my life, I would have to list learning how to swim at the very top. I did it on my own.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Aaron Goldstein
More Articles From Another Perspective
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/31/when-all-goes-swimmingly
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Ailes: A Voice for the Silent Majority
- Eugenic Abortion 2.0
- Razing Reagan
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Frank Drackman| 7.31.12 @ 7:27AM
I know you don't make a living at this, but you used "I" 46 times.
And it would have been more if you hadn't written the first part in the passive voice...
It distracts ones attention from whatever point you're trying to make, here's an example.
"I watched the Boston Redsox make one of the worst collapses of MLB history in 1978"
see, only one "I"...
you lost 40 lbs your freshman year?? How bout an essay on what you ate/did to get so out of shape? Ever dip a twizzlers IN chocolate chip cookie dough??..
And I know about the Salmonella, I'm still here...
oops I'm doin what you do...
you want swimming stories, try bein the only white (jewish at that)kid in a West Birmingham(Alabama, not England) YMCA Pool in 1972, which is where I learned the Breast Stroke...
Yeah, she was great (Rimshot)
Learned a few other strokes too...
but seriously, break out a Thesaurus, read a little Hemmingway, try and see the humor in a team with the 3rd highest payroll in baseball playing at a triple A level (can you send the whole team to Pawtucket?)
Frank
MelvinNC| 7.31.12 @ 7:47AM
"Mr. Goldstein, you need to get your butt back into the water. I was born on in Oregon and spent much of my life in the water.
Joining the Marine Corps was only natural, the Marines were water people. I remember jumping off the side of the USS Frederick into Subic Bay during one swim call, and another where the Captain just stopped the ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean and let the crew and Marines go swimming.
I swim with two gentlemen who have two tours of Vietnam each, another gentleman from Spain who became a United States Marine Officer.
I feel as if I am swimming with history, but we get our exercise in, and tell war stories between us. Before we know it over an hour has passed by.
Mr. Waller who is 77 goes up the gentle steps of the pool. Not that long ago he could barely walk, after swimming about a year, he can now walk albeit slowly and stooped over, but me and Willy kept at him and pushed him, and he is doing pretty good now.
I wouldn't trade the pool and my dear friends I have made there for all the money in the world. This old lizard has found his favor rock.
Otis, my man!| 7.31.12 @ 8:58AM
Mr. Goldstein, good job!
When I was in college I was a swimmer and a lifeguard. To earn PE credits I taught lots of guys like you how to swim. Many of them were star athletes on our Division I football and baseball teams, but they couldn't swim a lick. They had to learn to wim to graduate. So don't feel bad, you are in good company. Keep up the good work. At this point you would probably benefit from a few lessons. Once you've mastered staying afloat (the hardest part), it won't take much to learn some technique. You'll be astounded at how much better you'll get, very quickly.
Otis, my man!| 7.31.12 @ 9:21AM
Yes, that should be swim, not wim.
Wimming is Charlie Sheen in the water.
Frank Drackman| 7.31.12 @ 9:33AM
umm Otis,
you still with the Knights? and "Shamma Lamma Ding Dong" never gets old...
That being Said.......
You're Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy to enthusiastic about being in the water with men...
C'mon, prove me an A-hole, lets here about teaching that mousy exchange student from Estonia how to dog paddle...
Frank
Otis, my man!| 7.31.12 @ 9:42AM
Hey, I didn't actually get into the water to "assist" my students unless they were women...
Edward Gregory| 7.31.12 @ 9:46AM
Despite growing up in water-laden Florida, the only "swimming" I did was bouncing around in a public pool. That, and treading water as part of basketball conditioning. When I joined the Y in my mid-30s to get back in shape, a friend there -- a masters-level swimmer -- tried for a year to coax me onto the pool deck. I finally relented and gave it a shot. My freestyle stroke was decent, but my conditioning was, to say the least, lacking. For those who have never tried swimming as a form of exercise, this is the most eye-opening aspect: It is exhausting! But this friend patiently taught and encouraged me to keep at it, and I did. Completing my first 100 yards without a break was a major accomplishment, and within a few weeks, I was up to a few hundred yards per session. And within six months, I regularly swam 2,700 yards and sometimes 3,600, albeit slowly. I'm now 43 and prefer shorter, but more intense swims, going hard for 1,800 yards three days a week. Much as I'd like to feel a swimming kinship with guys like Michael Phelps, I can't. He's simply otherworldly. But I will say that getting into the pool is one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Gr0w1er601| 7.31.12 @ 1:09PM
I had to join the U.S. Navy to learn how to swim. The class was taught by ex-SEALs and Navy Divers. Our graduation present: a 'friendly' water polo match... with said instructors!! If that doesn't make you lose your fear of water, nothing will!
Bob K| 7.31.12 @ 10:22PM
Talk to RETJr. Wasn't he on the Indiana U. Swim Team?
junkyard infidel| 8.1.12 @ 12:44AM
I took up swimming as part of physical therapy after two knee surgeries. I could no longer use the treadmill, bike, or elliptical machine due to pain and swelling. It is an amazing cardio and full body workout. The first thing I want to do after a swim is go get something to eat, usually Chick-Fil-A ! And Michael Phelps has nothing to worry about.
Daniel| 8.1.12 @ 2:17AM
Swimming is my favorite exercise, and although I was never much of an athlete I still love it after all these years. It is a better workout than running or aerobics, without the joint pounding.