I hate Dunwoody Country Club. Actually I strongly dislike the stoner kids that taught swim lessons there when I was 3 or 4 years old. You see, if you didn't learn to put your head under water they would simply push it under for you. Net result = I never learned to swim.
Fast forward to age 12. I can remember the first time I put my head under and swam with both arms (rather than with one arm while the other pinched my nostrils closed). For you Creekers, it was at the pool on the 'old side'. I rarely went to that pool while it was open. I want to say the old side pool was open on the day that the new side pool was closed and vice versa. I am pretty damn proud that I taught myself to swim as so many people like our parents and grandparents never learned. It could have been me.
Within the next year or two I decided to join the Saddle Creek swim team...later to be known simply as the Creekers. I have no recollection as to whose idea it was to join first because, lets be honest, swim team was not 'cool'. The crazy thing was everyone in my circle of friends signed up. I never was the best swimmer. I put up a couple of decent 50 Free times (mainly when I wore a banana hammock and swim cap). For some reason I always swam IM. Backstroke was definitely my weakest stroke.
Watching the Olympics the last few nights has brought back a lot of great memories from those summers in the mid to late 80's. Like the asshole father of one of the kids on our swim team that challenged us teenagers to a race...in his speedo. Prick.
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4 comments:
love that pic, jason! it's funny that you think swim team was uncool. i was always jealous of people who got to be on swim teams.
You know that you will always be an honorary creeker!
Okay, so who made you the friendship bracelet? That reminded me of the safety pins with beads that people wore?
I second that Camille is an honorary creeker.
I also am having some flashbacks to swim team - Do you remember people doing the dolphin kicks after their turns when they came off the wall?
Just for the record = Backstroke was my worst event. I LOVED IM, though. I can't remember why, but there weren't that many girls in my age group (me, karen, Lucy off the top of my head) and I remember a few meets where I swam every event. I remember being tired afterwards, but not exhausted. I cannot imagine doing that now. I seriously doubt I could hold together a 50 of butterfly without my stroke just falling apart.
I have no clue who made the bracelet. It was yellow and green.
I remember how tired, but how good I felt when the meets were over. I also remember flipping crushed red pepper into Owen's eyes at Pizza Hut. Not sure if I meant to or not.
I couldn't swim a 25 of Butterfly. I swam IM, too. My Butterfly was okay, but I would fall apart on backstroke and had no momentum in breaststroke.
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