Sink or Swim This article was originally published in Triathlete Magazine, 1999 I began participating in the sport of triathlon in 1993. I had never swum before except for the occassional pool game of marco polo, or bumper butts. So , needless to say I had a very difficult time going the distance as I looked more like a human washing machine rather than a swimmer. I remember also, my first race, in Englewood, Colorado. It was a pool swim and before the race they were trying to arrange the lanes so they asked me for my 100m swim time. Of course, I had no idea what that would be seeing as though I didn't even know what a hundred was. So, they then said, "you know, is it 1:20s, 1:30s 1:40s 2mins?" I responded, " oh, I guess, 1:20's!" having absolutely no clue as to what that meant. So, anyhow, I got into the lane for the start of the race, looked around me and was shocked by what I saw. 8 guys, all big shoulders, strong looking, very intimidating, and then me! Well, the race started and I got absolutely mauled in the swim, they swam over me at least 5 times each in teh 800m swim. I think I finished the swim in 16 mins! It was truly humiliating. The humiliation of this experience awoke in me an incredible hunger to want to learn how to swim and learn all about swimming. So, when I returned home, I joined a masters program and begged the coach, Jane Scott, to teach me how to swim. I told her I wanted to get good, fast! The best thing was, she didn't laugh at me, she said " all right,you commit to coming 5 days a week and I will get you to swim faster." The nature of this plan was that she always put me in a lane that was just a bit too fast for me, that way I really had to kill myself to hang in there and the goal was just to hang in there for as long as I could. She taught me a proper swim stroke and all the swimming lingo- like 50's, which didn't mean 50 laps, but meant 50 meters. Slowly but surely I began to improve. Along with my swim improvement, I was also getting better at biking and running. I truly was determined to become proficient in this great sport. So, I focused entirely on trying to do everything right, learn the skills and then work at really honing those skills. In my first olympic distance races, my 1500m swim times were normally around 24 to 25 minutes. Within a couple years, I had them down to around 21 and 22 minutes and as I got more serious about the sport, I was then able to drop it down around 20 minutes. In the past two years, I joined a new coach and a new team of training partners. My coach is, I believe, one of the best swim coaches in the world. He and I agreed that my main goal for the 2000 and 2001 season was to get my swim good enough to have me coming out with the lead pack in world cup races. If I could do this, I could win races. My training partner Loretta Harrop, a noted "awesome" swimmer, has also provided me with incredible motivation and a great marker to follow. I have devoted a majority of my training energy and time to my swim and this year had a couple breakthrough races where I came out of the water, in the front pack with the likes of Barb Lindquist, Loretta, Nici Hackett and Sheila Taormina. This to me, was one of my greatest accomplishments, just because I have come so far from the day I started. It feels so amazing to be able to see that all my hard work and dedication have paid off. The races where I came out of the water with those lead girls, were both wetsuit swims. So my main goal now is to get my swim strong enough where I am coming out of the water with them, wetsuit or non wetsuit. That is the goal and I won't stop short of achieveing it! Whatever I can do to improve my swim to that extent, I will do it and I know that with my coaches guidance and a lot of hard work, I will! Back to Articles Page

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