The Swim

In High School and still til this day, if i go to a football game, i go early to watch the punters & QB's in warm up. To me the perfect spiral is like poetry. I'm just amazed how effortless professional QB's can arch the ball with perfect touch and it slips through the air into the receivers hands. Or a punter warming up with very little effort can soar the ball with an amazing spiral and send it 50 yards. Proudly, being a former QB ; i'm quite proud I have nice spiral. Doesn't it matter ? Not really.
Swimming is the same. Ever watch the gift of someone who glides through the water making almost no splash, no waves but is moving incredibly fast, it's beautiful. Even more artful, is with two front crawl strokes they have covered a distance of 5 meters to your 2 meters. I'm sure many of us Triatletes with non swimming backgrounds wonder if it will ever be possible to swim like a Phelps or a Torpedo. I have done a ocean full of reading on swimming, and one common element is this art takes time to develop sometimes four or five years. Its discipline, it's hardwork, and it's mostly working on technique. Last year I swam with the Barrie Masters and I put my heart and soul into practice. I was told by many that my swimming had improved dramatically, but I was disappointed in not loping off more time from my 100m pace. This year swimming without the Masters but four times a week, i am starting to see results. People you have no idea how happy this makes me. I'll be honest i'm not a fast swimmer, but my improvement is quite satisfying.