Not a Slow Swimmer Anymore!

Last week was the first week of the new swimming session.  On the Thursday class, there are a lot of new people.  So lane 1 is so crowded that some of the lane 1 regulars had to be moved to lane 2. I've been a lane 2 regular for the last session. Pam needed to move someone from lane 2 up to lane 3 to make room for the lane 1 people.

I could see her assessing the swimmers in lane 2.  I thought for sure she would move Ron or Todd...maybe even Jill.  But no...she said "Karen, I want you to move over to lane 3."  What?  I was shocked.  She must have seen that on my face and she said "you can handle it."

So I moved over to lane 3 and meekly smiled at the other swimmers in the lane... Elliott, Trish and Sue.  I volunteered myself to go last.  During the workout, I found myself catching up to Sue.  I couldn't believe it...these are really fast swimmers!

Today was another day where lane 1 was overcrowded.  I had started my workout in lane 2.  Then
Pam came over and asked me to move to lane 3 again.  I was actually excited about moving this time, although I still volunteered to go last.

We did some drills with our fins on.  I found that I was catching Trish and was having to slow down so that I didn't run her over.  What a great feeling!  I think next Thursday I'm going to ask if I can move up in the order that we go, especially when we have fins on.  Also, during our negative split 200, I had to slow down because I had almost overtaken Elliott.  I am in lane 3 and not just keeping up...I'm definitely holding my own with these strong swimmers.

During my drive into work, I started thinking about my swimming.  For the first few months that I was going to swimming class, I was always telling everyone how slow I was.  Now I'm getting to the point where I can really see major progress.  I am in a class with some really good swimmers...and I'm steadily moving up to faster lanes and continuing to do well. 

As with everything else, my swimming capabilities are going to take a hit during my recovery from surgery.  However, my confidence will not be shaken.  I know that I will never get back into the pool and state "I'm a really slow swimmer".  While I'm not the fastest swimmer, I am also NOT a slow swimmer.  This understanding alone shows major gains from where I was a year ago.  YAY!!