S is for Swimming

i am what my uncle might call, a water baby. i was born on an island and in the first few years of my life, lived just up an embankment from the sea. my mother was a scuba diver and had a small boat. sometimes she would leave me alone on the beach as she swam off with her snorkel and explored. my earliest memories are of sitting in the sand at the edge of the water, waves lapping at my toes, staring at the horizon, wondering if my mother had been attacked by a shark. i may have been a little bit frightened, but i was also at home.

despite my life at the edge of the water and submerged in pools, i didn't even learn how to do the crawl stroke until i was about eight or nine. i took lessons at the hilton hotel while visiting cyprus one summer, and then i was set to go. there was no getting me out of the water after that.



when i was pretty young my mother took me along with her on a scuba diving cruise in the carribean sea. i was always so scared when she would jump into that deep, ominous, dark water with a tank on her back. i would sit on the yacht waiting for her return, terrified. i love to swim, but scuba diving doesn't call to me. i do love to snorkel. my love for this came on that same trip, when my mother lead me through shallow water at the edge of an island, and i saw for the first time the most incredibly colorful and complex underwater world. fish that glowed, intricate patterns, plants that opened and closed at the touch of a finger, bright corals and beautiful stars. everything swayed and danced and sparkled. it was made all the more special by the fact that my mother was actually leading me through it all.



i joined the swim team in middle school and remained a competitive swimmer through high school. i wasn't great, but i was good enough. breast stroke and crawl were my strongest. i was not so good at back stroke or butterfly. swimming was the only competitive sport i was a part of. i joined track at one stage, but an unusual bone structure in my ankles caused me too much pain. i enjoyed skiing (s again!), but that was just for fun. swimming came naturally to me and i looked forward to it.



dan was also a competitive swimmer. and tashi can't get enough of the water. last summer when tashi and i went to cyprus, i introduced her to snorkeling. i think it was one of the best times we've ever had together.



i would love so very much to live by the sea again someday. but for now, a few nice lakes will do.