Need for Speed

I’ve spent the past several years learning how to swim farther.

Now I want to learn how to swim faster.

One of the many gifts of taking up swimming later in life is that I’m still climbing the learning curve. Every month I discover something I couldn’t do before. My stroke becomes a little cleaner. My breathing a little calmer. My body wastes a little less energy.

So far, my fifties have been an experiment.

Can I improve quickly enough that better technique and better training outweigh getting older?

So far, the answer has been yes.

I’m under no illusion that this continues forever. Biology always wins eventually.

But I have no idea where that point is.

That uncertainty is part of the appeal.

Most of my swimming has been devoted to efficiency—to making the water feel easier so I could swim longer and farther.

Speed asks a different question.

Not, “How long can you keep going?”

But, “How much better can you become?”

I suspect swimming fast will teach me different lessons than swimming far. More precision. Better timing. The ability to stay relaxed while asking more of my body. The challenge to spend more time uncomfortable.

The distance swimmer in me isn’t going anywhere. I still love swimming in lakes, oceans, and unhurried miles.

But for the next half of this year, curiosity points in a different direction.

I want to find out how fast I can become.

If you’ve walked this path before, I’d love to hear what helped you most.