Sports can become a large part of your life. From late night meets to early morning practices, swimming can become an impactful part of your everyday. From age group swimming to high school swim practice, it can feel like you’ve been swimming all your life.
So when it’s time to throw in the cap and goggles and trade your bathing suit for sweatpants, it feels as though you’re a whole different person. Any former swimmer can relate to these statements.
1. You still eat enormous amounts of food
Swimming can cause your metabolism to speed up quickly. It feels like you can eat several meals after swimming for several hours. Even after your swimming days are over, it can feel like you're always hungry.
2. The smell of chlorine brings back memories
Whether it’s at a pool or residual chlorine from cleaning a room, the smell of chlorine brings back memories from the pool. After years of smelling like chlorine even after showering many times, you can always tell when it's in the air. It can remind you of belting out Lady Gaga at meets or when you beat your best time.
3. Watching the Summer Olympics makes you feel lazy
Whenever the Olympics are happening, there’s always someone who is younger than you who is also much faster. It makes you think that all your hard work went to waste.
4. Swimming without a cap feels weird
When friends invite you to go swimming, it feels strange. Diving underwater without a cap or goggles make you feel almost naked, and since you have rarely been in a pool not during practice, you wind up swimming around, not knowing what to do.
5. You don’t miss morning practice
Sleeping in on weekdays after years of waking up at 5 A.M. is magical. No one misses the feeling of hearing your alarm clock going off, or nodding off in your first class period.
6. You have sexy shoulders
Even after you lose the muscles from lack of swimming every day, you can never seem to lose those broad shoulders. Certain clothes don't fit right due to you have shoulders like a bodybuilder, and this can be frustrating.
7. You don't miss the whistle
It always seems like coaches have a form of communication while you're swimming at meets. Whether it's a loud whistle or yelling, you don't miss hearing that sound constantly.