Just this morning, I swam the 50-yard freestyle -- two lengths of my local Chicago Park District pool -- in 43 seconds. For me, that's going as fast as I can. The world record for the 50-meters (which is about four yards further than the 50 yards I swam) is Frenchman Alain Bernard's 21.50, which was set earlier this year. He had the advantage of diving in and actually knowing how to do a flip turn, but essentially he swims about twice as fast as I do. Sometimes being a Masters athlete is a humbling experience. But you know, no matter how slow I am, I can't get enough.
In a previous column, I had bellyached about 400-meter world record holder Michael Johnson running twice as fast as I can. Well, I lowered my recent personal best in the 400 meters to 82 seconds (from 90 seconds), so I'm getting faster. And gaining on Mr. Johnson.
Tags: Swimming
