Having A Whale Of A Time

My kids and I have been swimming with the Abbotsford Whaler Summer Swim Club for several years now. When I joined as a master 5 years ago, I had difficulty swimming a length without stopping to breathe. I also have to admit that swimming lengths was not something I aspired to do in terms of a sporting activity, but I wanted to be an example for my kids and get some cross training exercise at the same time (win-win).

As a family, we decided that physical activity was important, so finding something we could all do together, considering it a life skill, and voila- swimming became our family sport. It has not been an easy ride, especially for our oldest, Annabelle, who had had difficulty appreciating the sport. A consolation has been her and Liam’s migration into water polo, which they both love. It’s a tough sport as Anna recently broke her pinky wrestling with an opposing player at the regionals this year. All in all our kids, including 6 year old Joe, are extremely competent in and around the water at the lake or where ever, which gives mom peace of mind.

As for me, it has be a fun challenge to try to improve my stroke and times. I have been focusing on the 50 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke. So far this year, I have achieved my best time in the 100 Breaststroke and am close to achieving a goal of sub 1:30sec. I also have one more meet, the regionals this weekend, to try to beat my main rival in the finals. He seems to have had my number the last couple of years- at last year’s regionals, beat my time by 1/100^th of a second. I’ve got a good feeling this is my year.J

Going forward we are open to the possibilities that maybe our family sport will evolve into more water polo or maybe give triathlons a try- who knows?

Bill