I was an average swimmer when I was 12 years old.
On Friday evening I entered a swimming pool, with the natural intention to swim. As someone whose interests lie mainly with technology, one thing that I have always prided myself on is that I am an average swimmer. Except that I was an average swimmer when I was 12 years old. I am now 19.
I have to admit in those seven years I have been complacent. Somehow I fooled myself into believing that my capacity for swimming would be eternal; However I can count the number of times I swam over those years on my fingers (thumbs probably not included), which was very apparent to me while I was struggling to complete my first length of the pool.
See I may not be the most athletic person — in fact I’m the only person I know of who can not help but jump a little while swinging for a tennis ball — however I’m also not in such a bad shape. So I figured I’d just be gliding through the water like some Olympian or something, crowds cheering and all. There was no gliding, I was no Olympian and there was definitely no crowd, if there was they’d be looking on with an air of sympathy and slight amusement.
I got to the end of the first length and the beating of my heart coupled with the consistent ripples of the pool were pushing me back and forth against the wall. Christ I was a state, breathing like nobody’s business. My legs had ceased up and cramped due to them flailing around trying to make progress. There is really little more to tell of the event. I struggled on for maybe twenty minutes more before getting out. I even thought I was going to pass out in the changing rooms.
It was such a dire attempt that it is actually laughable. While it was happening all I could think about was the frequency that we all find ourselves in similar situations. Why do we allow ourselves to become complacent in our abilities? I’m sure we can all give a thousand good excuses. The one I went with was that I am recovering from a sniffle and headache combo. Another could have been that it was the end of a week and I was just so tired. The truth is I haven’t swam in years and I am way out of practice.
I intend to start swimming more often and improve. Seeking to improve is what there is to take from realising you have been complacent. If you don’t learn from it, I guess you just end up another has-been average 12 year old swimmer.