Vicarious

The nice part of watching other people swim in the Olympics is imagining yourself as a water sprite riding on the swimmer’s shoulder. Or maybe you’re a speck of something -- a fly on their swim cap. You go for the swim, too. The videography is so good now that you can see and feel the underwater swim as well. And, as I was told by the woman who taught me to swim at age 49, you can learn from watching other people swim. Yes, I believe it. I can think about my shoulders and watch their shoulders perform a stroke with strength, beauty and control and understand the ways I can improve my own. I recognize that I have to accommodate my shoulder’s aches and pains. I see how a lack of flexibility in another area puts a strain on that shoulder. Watching the Olympians I see how I can fix some things. At the Olympics I get to see the excellent form and I can put that image before me to emulate. It is a reversal of mentoring sort of if mentoring is about old giving to young. Instead I emulate their athleticism, strength, determination, competitiveness and practiced form. I’m no Olympian. I’m not even a good swimmer. I practice swimming for fitness, contemplation, inspiration and community. My wise teacher told me after I’d accomplished some aqua confidence that anything that gets you from point A in the shallows to point B in the deep and back can be considered “swimming.” Her point being that, though there are standards and techniques in our sport, there is a lot of benefit and pleasure even if you can’t quite get up to them . . . as long as you don’t drown. And, BTW, let’s teach more kids to swim to avoid more accidental drownings. During the Summer Olympics I can get very excited by the swimming meets. I’m the water sprite, the fly on a swim cap. I’m there!