I know wierd right? But I was online today and I was thinking about going to the pool on Campus. Then I thought occured to me...I always loved to swim...especially as a sport. Why not look at swimming competitively? So I did. And I found out that Brock has a varsity swimming team! The only problem is now...My glory years of swimming are long past me and lets face it...I'm kind of out of shape. I know a few days at the pool a week could perhaps fix this...along with keeping my bike rides regular but I'm still a little nervous about sending the "coach" an email. ...So anyone ever do Varsity Swimming? What should I expect? How much "In Shape" should I be? ...Because honestly I've never owned an ounce of muscle in my life. Maybe on my legs because of biking everywhere but honestly finding the initiative to train myself is a hard thing for me to do. I know that if I could train with the Varsity Swim Team then that would help me gain inititave...feeling that I have a "responsibility." But first I have to get on a level that they accept me. The only thing I have right now is I'm long and skinny and move through the water like a very weak arrow. Think that'll convince them? Anyways the thought of me actually being part of a sports team has gotten me really excited so lets examine the possibilities and see if this walrus can indeed swim. P.S. Am I going to have to start shaving my legs?
There was a varsity swimmer in one of my classes last fall. We got to talking because waaaaaay back when I was in grade school, I used to swim "competitively." I say "competitively" because I was never all that great but I did really like it, which is extremely odd for me and physical exertion of any kind. Anyway, the varsity swim people here are in the water 50 weeks a year, probably 6 to 7 days a week. How I found this out was he was saying he had been pretty sick and hadn't been in the pool "as much." I'm like, "Dude, you said you had the flu! Why were you in the pool AT ALL?!" Apparently unless you are bedridden, you as a varsity swimmer are in the pool every day. If you are sick, you just swim less and less hard. (I nearly fell over... I can't imagine swimming with a cold, let alone the flu.) Maybe that's just UBC... I know we have a few Olympians who train here. All this being said, you might want to set your sights on something less psychotically intense than the varsity swim team at first and work your way up to it. Maybe join a Master's swimming team? http://www.mastersswimmingontario.ca/masters swimming/masters40.htm#01 Or maybe there's an intra-mural league team? (Intra-mural is usually the step down from varsity--still competitive but not with Olympian hopefuls on the team.) Of course, maybe varsity swimming at Brock isn't crazy like here. But even if it's not, you are probably going to want to spend a serious amount of time getting yourself in shape if you haven't been swimming regularly. I know if I'm out of the pool for more than about 2 weeks, I can really tell the next time I'm back in it.
Yah...The only way the Walrus is even closely related to an Olympian is when he studies the Greek Gods in school. LOL I think we have a Master's swimming team...I didn't see anything about intermurals.
I don't think anyone signs up on a varsity team on a whim. Instead, find out what the schedule is for 'free swims' or 'lane swims' and just go a couple of times a week for exercise. That's what I'm doing at the local rec center. And it feels great.
Swimming = awesome I was on my high school swim "team" for a year, but it was very laid back (we didn't do competitions). It was thouroughly enjoyable. Now I swim in my free time for the summer at the city pool and it's generally enjoyable. (Basically, the only annoying things are the people in the effing wrong lane with their effing kids during adult hour and the effing hot guy who always stops me from concentrating! GAAAH!) Now. If your University's varsity team is UBER-competitive, might not be best place to start. I found it pretty discouraging to always be the last guy when I took swimming classes (sad, sad childhood stories...). So, I'd recommend starting at a lower-level swim team. You can always move up if your walrusian body proves to be more powerful than you suspect! Until then, do go to a pool, discipline yourself (you can create some swimming programs on sites like http://www.swimplan.com/ to give your "workout" some structure) and see if you like. I strongly encourage joining a team though, as it'll push you much more and you'll improve mucho, and you'll meet some cool guys (more importantly, see their incredibly hot swimmer bodies <3 lol). 100% good for you all-around. Go for it.
