I have always loved the water. My family took me to the Jersey Shore nearly every weekend from the time I was 5 until high school, and swimming in the ocean or the inlet was the highlight of each weekend. I felt like I had an intimate relationship with Nature when I was in the water.
I moved away from swimming when I got to high school because I went to the shore less and less frequently. My high school had a swim team, but I didn't even consider trying out since pool competitions didn't seem to have the same zen feel as swimming in the ocean. My love for swimming took a spot on the back burner, and I forgot about the water for about a decade. It wasn't until the XXIX Olympics in August that I realized that swimming in a pool could provide a similar zen experience, albeit from a different perspective.
Swimming--be it in a pool or the ocean--lets me feel as though I can do anything, so long as I put the work into it. The great thing about the sport of swimming is that while you are competing against other swimmers, the ultimate competition comes from yourself. If you spend the time and energy working on your technique, there will be a real, observable result--your times will go down. Not many sports have such a direct connection between effort and results, and it depends entirely on the individual swimmer. No one else can help or detract, and there is a specialness to that not found in most sports.
I would love to swim for the United States in the Olympics. I know that is a lofty goal, but my philosophy is that you should shoot for the stars. If you train to be a Masters swimmer, you will be a Masters swimmer; however, if you train for the Olympics, even if it never happens, you will be on a level much higher than the majority of Masters swimmers. I dream about the Olympics, but the growing connection to the swimming community is what I cherish the most.