Confession – Olympic Dreams

I have admitted this to friends, but to admit this in a wider forum fells kinda silly. However, ya’ll know I want to keep it real wit’cha so here goes…

I have always wanted to swim in the Olympics. As long as I can remember. 

I started “competing” in my local summer swim club (not a year-round club) when I was 5… maybe 6. I kept swimming each summer until I was 18. It wasn’t until I entered the 13-14 age group that I started doing well – at least in the small community I was part of. It was during that time I began beating (finishing before, not assaulting) the girls who I had never been able to gain victory over in the 8 years before. 

I remember the first time I beat one of the “fast” girls on my team. In the years before we only raced 1 lap (25 yards) or 2 (50 yards). But the 100 yard events opened up at age 13. The night I beat “T” is burned into my memory. I NEVER thought I would EVER beat “T”. She was small and fast. Fast. Speedy. Small. I was one of the heavier gals.

It was the 100 yard freestyle. I remember pushing and pushing. “T” kept her usual lead in the first 2 laps, but then…. then… out the corner of my goggles I saw her. I was getting closer and closer… and during the 4th lap I took her over and took first. Shizzle! She never raced that event again.

Then there was the time I beat “S” in the 100 yard medley (one lap of all 4 strokes). We were finishing our third lap – and I had gained a slight lead – when she had an asthma attack and couldn’t finish the last lap. That third lap was the first time I had ever been ahead of “S”. She never raced that event again. I’m sure it really was asthma that stopped her, but the immature teen in me thought she used asthma as an excuse to not lose to me. How wretched of me! Not only have I revealed a life-long dream today, but also an even darker corner of the rotting edges of my competitive nature.

I’m not done.

I watched the Olympic swim trials tonight. My tummy got a swishy when the start horn sounded. In my day, we started to “start guns” – smoke and all. I just watched and wished and watched and envied. Then I googled, “oldest person to swim in Olympics”  because… I. Am Ridiculous. Guess what I found…

This.

If you didn’t view the video – lemme break it down – Dana Torres. Age 41. This week she became oldest person to make the American Olympic swim team! She has a 2-year-old daughter. Moms rock!

So… my friends in 2012 I will only be 39! You know what this means!!!

Oh, a few more details about Dana Torres. It’s her 5th Olympic Team. She set a world record at age 15 and has 9 Olympic medals. IwillnotcallherameannamebecauseIamjealous.   IwillnotcallherameannamebecauseIamjealous.

Dazulfamn. (I just cursed in Zulf)

I want to swim in the Olympics even more than I want to be on Dancing with the Stars!

*sigh*

Let’s see…

• At age 35, I can finish a 50 free in 38 seconds. 
• Dana (age forty-shizzle-one!) did it in, like 24ish. 
• I could do it in 30 seconds at age 17. I could never break 30. I hated that.
• My current time includes a flip turn because I don’t swim in a 50 meter pool, like Dana-the Great. So, that means I should be able to do it in, like 36 seconds… 35??? 
• I wonder if I can shave 13 seconds off my time in, say 3 or 4 years…

As a teen, Janet Evans was my hero, but guess who I’ll be watching in ’08? Go Dana!