Ill Concieved Plans Poorly executed

Swimathon 2007

I am not a fish; I don't have gills and live mainly on the land. Back in the depths of time one of evolutionary ancestors may have crawled from the primordial soup and thought "so that's what it's like to be dry" before heading into a land based existence. None of this really explains why I get the urge to leap into water and splash about or indeed try to swim painfully long distances at a speed slower than walking. These thoughts were wandering round my mind at the start of the swimathon. Two hundred lengths of the pool, which if you say it quickly still seems like a long way. I was one of three in the fast lane, this was the first time I've had the opportunity to be in a lane with such a low number and I can report that contrary to my strongly held belief the water is not thinner. We started at a reasonable pace and it soon became obvious that I was the slowest in the lane. The other two slowly pulled away leaving me in clear water to glide along at my own pace. I watched them slowly pull away and then slowly get nearer. Before the start of the swim we had organised that a tap on the feet meant stop at the end and let the faster ones pass. I had hoped that I'd be doing the slapping but alas no. There is a small advantage in being slow, taking the tow for three or four lengths before the quick guys where two far in front. Well that was the pattern of the swim, watching the others get further away and then watching them get closer. It was all very relaxing in a painfully active way. In the end I got out of the pool 1 hour and 32 minutes after the start just four minutes after the fast boys. It was good, 5 minutes of my previous personal best.