what daemons drive you to water to be saved

[jim thornton]

Corporeal vanity?
Intimations of mortality.
Psychiatric woe in its myriads shades and incarnations.
The urge to climb up the hierarchy of a social species,
as the sparks fly upwards?
The denial of death?
Lust for life?
Lust for lust's sake?

or more decent motivations: freindships; health for you and an approach passed down by example to the youngsters

A pill has been taken following an extracted tooth, and the only part of me now swimming is my head.

Basic summarized question, the above meandering nothwithstanding. Swimming gives us something, relief from bad aspects of our lives, or at least some distraction; it also helps us heal from wounds in the character. How has it made your life a better thing?

[chaos]

Corporeal vanity?
Intimations of mortality.
Psychiatric woe in its myriads shades and incarnations.
The urge to climb up the hierarchy of a social species,
as the sparks fly upwards?
The denial of death?
Lust for life?
Lust for lust's sake?

all of the above. (i love multiple choice questions)

[KaizenSwimmer]

Good question, entertainingly posed. In my case, rather than affording a distraction, swimming provides relief from distraction.
Though I didn't know the condition existed until my early 40s, I've clearly had a pronounced case of ADD all my life.
Swimming was the last sport I took up; I'd demonstrated no distinction in any others -- a pattern that remained unchanged when I began swimming. But I was deeply fascinated by it from the beginning - which was in 10th grade. I could swim - or read about swimming - with an absorption I'd never experienced in anything else. 40+ years later I've not lost any of my fascination with the "puzzle" of swimming well.

I wish I could say swimming has revealed the means for "salvation" from distraction and restlessness in other aspects of my life, but not so far.

[SwimStud]

To get into better shape fr all the right reasons.
Feel better
Look better
Feel happier
Look Happier

It helps my lower back pain condition as it builds strength in my core, and like Terry said I can findsomething very meditative about swimming:feeling the water, stretching out my stroke and working towards a graceful style.

[CreamPuff]

After some icky upfront work of getting back into shape, swimming is my accidental find - the fountain of youth.

It's a place where it's okay to be competitive - and a place to learn about yourself.

(I apologize in advance for this bad ode).

Ode to Swimming

Instead of sipping that glass of vermouth
I've accidentally found the fountain of youth

No smoking, no drinking, no gambling, no cheating
Who could swim 6x800s after taking that beating!?

Banished! are beer guts that appear with no warning!
It's up at dawn or even 4 in the morning!

No coffee; no latte; no double espresso are craved
Grab the suit and the goggles and hit the cool waves

Pick your poison; be zen; go smooth, even and slow
Or jump in with the "animals" and hold 100s on one-double 0

Glide through the water; take a first breath towards the sky
Swimming, yes swimming, is the ultimate high

Non-swimmers don't see and even ask "Why?"
Yet we know the secret; the one to being truly alive

We're all on a journey - some seeking fame, riches, and wealth
But some, just a few, quest for the discovery of self

[jim clemmons]

Swimming in the morning gets me over the Dublin Grade and to work before the Bay Area commute gets rolling. Pretty selfish.

[jim thornton]

Jim, getting over the Dublin Grade sounds like something the Irish Republican Army needs to do.

Kristina, if you wrote that ode, excellent poesy! I can actually hold precisely one hundred on one double oh myself. Two, sometimes, if I am wearing a Fastskin and get to dive off the blocks, and I can average the two 100s.

(Years ago, I did a story for Modern Maturity wherein the editors asked me try out this stuff, Androgel, a testosterone replacement agent you could rub in your shoulder. A urologist friend agreed to prescribe this, provided I didn't already have high natural T. Tests revealed mine was in the normal zone--but as close to the bottom of this zone as was humanly possible without falling out. At Nationals in Baltimore that year, I tried to get officials to create a third gender category--so low-T guys like me could compete against our hormonal equals, i.e. manly women. Judging by your times, I see now what foolishness that would have been--not that you are manly in any kind of S(He)-Male sense.)

Terry, very interesting about the ADD and swimming link. You seem such a focused individual, whose accomplisments in the world of swimming are as legendary as they are somewhat controversial, that I would have never pegged you for a person prone to distraction.

My own main impetus for swimming, at least most of the time, is the ability of the sport to quiet brain chatter. Because of a recently extracted tooth, I've been out of the pool for a little over one week now. As this posting perhaps indicates, it's time for the chatter to be quieted again.

Thanks for your input.

[KaizenSwimmer]

I would have never pegged you for a person prone to distraction.

Here's an example: About 90 minutes ago I began working on some new copy for our web site. I've since interrupted that to:
read a bit from a New Yorker article I left unfinished last night
check my email
try to download the entry for the Colonies Zone meet (not responding)
Check on whether results/splits were posted for the meet I swam in on Sunday
And see what's been posted on this Forum since I was last here early this am.

Anything is more interesting than what I'm supposed to be doing this minute.

In the pool, I can drill down on a single fine detail of my stroke for an hour or more -- indeed sometimes for months.

[funkyfish]

For myself, swimming (or any other form of rigorous exercise) has a mellowing effect. I've noticed that when I don't (or can't) exercise for 2 or more weeks, I'll get moody/tense (others around me notice as well). Definite stress reliever. It also really helps with getting a good night's sleep. Plus, there's that fresh, chlorine smell.

[The Fortress]

Here's an example: About 90 minutes ago I began working on some new copy for our web site. I've since interrupted that to:
read a bit from a New Yorker article I left unfinished last night
check my email
try to download the entry for the Colonies Zone meet (not responding)
Check on whether results/splits were posted for the meet I swam in on Sunday
And see what's been posted on this Forum since I was last here early this am.

That's how I am all the time and I don't have ADD. I have MMA.

I like swimming to quiet the mind. I also like it for the feel better/look better/feel happier/look happier mode. I think I get this more from swimming than other sports I've competed in. Maybe because I'm better at swimming... I like meets; I like to race. I also really enjoy meeting other swimmers.

I'm not sure how swimming relates to "climbing up the heirarchy of a social species" though. Most people I know don't know anything about swimming, and don't have any idea what I really do. They think it's odd that I go to "practice." Their loss. I think I'd have better luck with the social hierarchy if I played tennis. But no thanks. Maybe if swimming helps us look/feel better we're more apt to climb higher on the social ladder?

On the "psychiatric" angle, I think swiming has helped me lead a more well rounded life and have more "me" time. It's not just "kids, kids, kids, drive, drive, drive, worry, worry, worry, be proud, be proud, be proud, be irritated, be irritated, be irriatated. So, I think it keeps me sane and makes me a better person and mother. Maybe a better wife too. Except when my shoulder hurts. At least like Kristina says, I don't have the time or energy for cheatin' or gamblin.'

[swim4me]

I too suffer from ADD. Drives my co-workers nuts! I've run a lot and even finished a marathon. I have biked all over the Texas hilly countryside. But swimming is the best way for me to work out the majority of my hyperness.

[swim n again]

No deamons; there's no other place that I feel so at home as in the water. There is no other place where I experience such peace; the feel, the sound and the embrace of the water. As a competitive person I appreciate the clock more than any competitor. The feel of the water and the competition offered on the clock what else does anyone need.