1. Eating absurd amounts food
Every swimmer seemingly has the metabolism of a 12-year-old. We eat ALL THE TIME and never seem to gain a pound. We eat during class, before practice, after practice, during meets and let’s not forget the copious amounts of food you eat at the Chinese buffet between prelims and finals
2. Writing on your body
This is less commonplace in high school or collegiate swimming, but every swimmer has done this when they were tiny minnows in USA. Whether it be writing your events on your arm so you won’t forget, or the classic, “Eat my bubbles” on your back.
3. Too comfortable with your teammates
You know that your team really is your family. A lot of you spend more time at swim meets and practice than anywhere else. They’re your best friends, so naturally, you’re all completely involved in each other’s lives, whether it be your teammate’s love interests, you all working as lifeguards somewhere together, going on trips together and knowing each other’s deepest darkest secrets. It’s not uncommon to share food, give massages, send each other inappropriate texts or pictures. Hell, you’ve probably seen each other naked, one way or another.
4. Swim meet romances and best friends
Every year you go to the same meets at the same places, so in addition to knowing your teammates intimately, you know everyone from the other teams. A lot of times, you make best friends from other teams. This may seem odd to some, but for swimmers, they see those people two to three weekends a month. And whenever two people are close, flirt, or become an item, especially from different teams, it spreads like wildfire, and by the end of the weekend the rumor has probably already spread that they probably had sex in the locker room.
5. Rivalries
Just like any sport, everyone has a rival, swimming is no exception. You have that one person that your times are so close together, that if nothing else, your goal is to beat them. And you revel in it whenever you beat them by even just an arm’s length, or alternatively, if you lose you try and rationalize that your timer cheated you or the finish pad glitched.
6. Knowing a swimmer when you see one
Especially after meets you can always recognize another swimmer, because there are a few tell-tale signs:
- Hardened, chlorinated hair and/or a goofy hat that they bought at the swim shop
- Warm up suit
- Crocs or flip flops
- They smell like chlorine
7. Reluctantly wanting to jump in for warm ups
Especially at the more serious meets, that water is always ice-cold so you always see two types of people:
- The “Just do it”- that person that doesn’t give themselves time to think about it, and just jumps in.
- The “Oh God” – that person you see standing at the top of the bulkhead, not jumping in, shaking their arms, staring at the water and asking God what they did to him to get the morning session.
8. The perfect song
Whether you are a sprinter or swim long distance, you always had “that song” that you listened to while waiting behind the blocks for your event, to get your head in the game.
9. "Skin tight" suits
Swimmers take the term "skin tight" to the next level. Before the big event, you spend a good 10 minutes squeezing into a suit size two to three times too small, causing it to dig into your skin and leave you in immense amounts of pain. Anything to shave a few milliseconds right? Women, you know how amazing it feels the moment you finish and you can slip those shoulder straps off. And men, you know how good it feels changing into shorts to let the boys breathe.
10. Zones
Whether it's Regional or YMCA, Zones in the culmination of this entire list, and it's the best or worst time ever.
