On October 18, 2016, at about 5:45 p.m., I got in my new gym’s pool and pushed off the wall, air bubbles escaping my nose. My arms started moving through the water, my feet kicking behind me. For the first time in a long time, I breathed a sigh of relief….and promptly choked on some water because you really shouldn’t inhale while your face is submerged. It had been about 7 years since I last swam a few laps in the pool and I had been nervous to start again. I had planned to re-start my swim journey with an easy 16 laps, but felt good enough to stretch it to 20. I might have gone for more, but I already felt a tightness in my shoulders and neck muscles. I hadn’t stretched as much as I probably should have, but I was nervous to get back in the water. I started writing this an hour after exiting the pool and I felt so happy.

I found swimming during the summer after 8th grade. Well, technically, I found water polo first but they go hand in hand. You can’t play water polo if you can’t swim, and unless you swim for a club, you usually play water polo while you’re not doing swim club. I had played softball from age 8 up until 8th grade, but I was never going to be good enough to make my high school squad. My high school’s softball team history boasts a pipeline to Oregon State University and a two-time Olympian in Jessica Mendoza, to give you a sense of the type of caliber we boasted. My best friend had been playing water polo as because her older brother played for our high school, so my mom signed my sister and me up for the summer session. I was hooked and loved it. Definitely didn’t like the “dryland” portion though. I made the water polo and swim team my freshman year and was able to compete in both until my senior year, when shoulder problems prevented me from doing a senior swim season. It was a great addition to my high school years and one of those workouts that doesn't feel like a workout.

The other day I took my housemate’s daughter to her swim class at the recreation center. It was the first time since high school that I have been at an aquatic center and while walking in, the smell hit me and with it, the memories. Her class was in the last lane, so I was able to sit in the bleachers and watch. She’s seven so it was more of a flailing of limbs, but I digress. Next to me on the bleachers was a swim club team and I was quietly observing them. Smiling to myself, I realized that there was a dynamic that seemed to follow each swim team. I recognized the way swimmer dress and interact. I definitely recognized the groans that went up when their coach came over and announced the dryland portion of the workout. It made me miss the swim lifestyle. It also made me feel old as hell because this was all over a decade ago for me.

This week, I’m focusing on getting back into my routine and I can’t wait for it!