For the love of swimming

My love for swimming started very early for me. I was 2 and a half years old when I learned and I am told I swam like a fish. I always wanted to go to the pool and I never wanted to get out! I wasn't fortunate enough to have a pool growing up, but my cousins and friends did, so I spent a lot of summers over at their houses getting my fill.

I swam competitively, but got a late start in todays standards. I was a Freshman in high school and was beside myself when I got picked for the team. I swam Junior Varsity my first year and Varsity the subsequent years.  I swam both the medley & freestyle relays and the 200 & 500 events. (The 500; 20 laps is when everyone takes off to get snacks, etc. since it's going to be awhile- LoL!) I swam all through high school, including the summer months when I was a part of a summer league. I have some wonderful memories from those years. I used to love going to two a days in the summer. I would ride my bike in the morning and afternoon to my summer workouts or the YMCA in the Winter months to get ready for the upcoming season. I will tell you though, that I don't miss the beginning of the high school season when we had morning workouts in the outdoor pool starting in February. Getting in that cold water so early was miserable!!!

My love for swimming continues to this day. There is something so freeing and enjoyable about being in the water. Not only does it give me great health benefits, but I find it extremely soothing and relaxing at the same time. I had the opportunity to teach a little boy to swim recently and I explained to him that for me, it's the closest thing to flying. Once I'm in the water, it's my own personal world and I can forget about everything else and focus on my breathing and cutting through that water. If I had to tell you my favorite strokes in order, it would probably be Freestyle, Butterfly, Backstroke, & Breaststroke. 

My dream someday is to have a 25 yard lap pool in my backyard. Black lane line at the bottom and all! Right now, I use a pretty cool invention called the SuperSwim, that allows me to swim in place at my home pool. It took a little bit of getting used to, but music with underwater headphones help a lot when you aren't going anywhere. I am able to swim some laps in my pool, but with my long arms and legs, it doesn't take too many strokes to get to the end ;-)

It's pretty awesome living in Las Vegas, because I get to swim outdoors from mid April until about the end of September. Usually in the late Fall and early Spring, I like to swim in an indoor lap pool to get my fix, although this year, of course, that's been a little different. I've been asked to swim with the local Masters team, but the thought of working out in a cold pool at 530am still gets to me!

So, if you ever meet me, you will see me light up when I talk about swimming. You will also notice that my Speedo tan lines are more prominent than my bikini tan lines because I swim more than I lay out! Don't get me wrong. I love the sun, floating and lounging as much or more than most. It also feels amazing after a long, hard swim. But I just have to remember to change into that bikini... or maybe into nothing at all ;-)

SuperSwim: https://superswim.com/?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=CjwKCAjwxev3BRBBEiwAiB_PWGc5l-A-MmuI9LZV6tXmzBjD9Owah9QlHqi3bXtcd687zdsk0RDB4hoCeEQQAvD_BwE

Underwater Music: https://www.underwateraudio.com/products/delphin-waterproof-streaming-media-player?gclid=CjwKCAjwxev3BRBBEiwAiB_PWDiPhxaBxq_Vh2GhoRKGIHq6XWCb3TRWsO1vLKCMKh0TWe4Ks90nLxoCvaUQAvD_BwE