No one will ever truly understand this love/hate relationship

Most people have had experiences in, on, or around water at one point in their life. However, not everyone can claim to be a competitive swimmer. We are a group all our own. We have developed our own language, our own traditions and our own world within the world. As a swimmer myself for over ten years, I have grown very used to many things non swimmers just don’t understand. No one will ever truly understand the love/hate relationship all swimmers have with their sport. But, we swimmers will always bond over the mutual understanding of these twenty four things listed below.

1. Permanent goggle lines

I am the queen when it comes to goggle lines. I’ll be sporting those bright red rings for hours after a practice.

2. Putting on a fast skin takes at least twenty minutes

Slow and steady wins the race! If you can breath it’s too big.

3. Tan lines

The mark of every female swimmer is a tan circle in the middle of their backs from all of those laps made in the summer sun.

4. Snapping your cap on your face

One second you are putting your cap on, the next second it slips and you have just hit yourself with a force equivalent to a TV drama slap in the face. Not only did you hear it, but your teammates who are trying to hide their laughter also heard it.

5. The pre-meet pasta feed

Pasta is the single most important food group and must be consumed in mass quantities, always. Especially in the days leading up to a swim meet.

6. Even more important, the post meet feast

More important than what you eat before a meet is how much you are able to eat after a swim meet. I truly feel bad for the restaurants my team attacks after meets, those poor people had no idea what hit them!

7. The agony of butterfly

Butterfly=Death

8. Convincing your coach to do starts and turns

As much as I would like to do that incredibly long and difficult looking set, how about we do a few turns and just call it good for today?

9. The inability to play other sports

Swimmers don’t do well on land. We trip over our own feet, we catch balls with our face and our aim isn’t much better. Play it safe, stay in the water!

10. When a coach writes “x3” around the main set

So you’re telling me I not only have to complete this set, but I still must be alive enough when it’s done to do it two more times?!? Excuse me while I cry into my goggles.

11. For the love of Speedo bags

I would be lost without my Speedo bag! It is used for everything from practices and meets, to sleepovers and textbooks. Because of this, there’s also no telling what you will find in one of these. It may be an innocent pencil or last week’s dry land socks, the risk is yours to take…

12. Hitting the lane line or another teammate

Nothing compares to this kind pain.

13. Black line meditation

Swimming lap after lap with only a black line to look at can actually be quite calming. The water blocks out most noise so you’re left with only the voices in your head to listen to.

14. Our white board gibberish

While it may just look like numbers and letters to non-swimmers, I can clearly read what the workout is telling me to do, how fast and how many times I must do it before I am allowed to leave and eat.

15. The constant smell of chlorine

You know you are a dedicated swimmer when you start to sweat chlorine in the weight room. I have had people walk by me and ask where the pool was.

16. Motivational thoughts during underwater sets

It seems as though all swim coaches believe oxygen is not necessary for survival. Swimming is the only sport where I have been yelled at for breathing.

17. That person who will always touch your feet but never pass you.

This is just an irritating type of swimmer found on every team.

18. No goggles are truly “anti-fog”

The single biggest lie in the world.

19. Meet warm ups are every swimmer for themselves

Who ever said swimming was a none contact sport?

20. The glory of taper

Shorter practices, more sleep, easier sets,and the building anticipation for championships, this is almost better than Christmas!

21. The feeling of finally getting the water out of your ears

That water has been sloshing around in your ear since 6 a.m. practice. It’s such a relief when it finally drains and you can actually hear what people are saying to you.

22. Your stroke is a source of pride

Within a team, there are smaller cliques. They are grouped by stroke. No matter how hard their stroke might be (I’m thinking of you, butterflyers) they can still all bond over the relief that they aren’t forced to do one of the other strokes. Personally as a backstroker, hearing my coach telling me to swim breaststroke is a fate worse than death. In my eyes no one should be condemned to such punishment. Of course, the breaststrokers would say the same thing about backstroke.

23. The excitement of dropping .1 seconds

In races, especially some of the shorter ones, there isn’t much time to drop more than a few tenths. Besides, .1 could just be the difference between your time and that record you’ve been eyeing.

24. When people tell you swimming isn’t hard

I am not responsible for my actions if you try to tell me swimming isn’t hard. Swimming is my passion, no matter how much I may complain about it. These things may get annoying, but I still wouldn’t trade my sport for the world.