This is the stroke by stoke report of Chris Ekimoff's valiant return to the , not so welcoming, waters of competitive swimming. It was very entertaining reading that I had to share!!!
In a day when the excitement at Woodrow Wilson High School Aquatic Center was as palpable as a spring fog, a former legend in his own mind pushed himself to the limits of both mental reasoning and physical assertion.
After a brisk 2500 warm up in the Olympic-sized pool for the first time since January 2007, he approached the stationed lifeguard with a favor to ask. However, the highly certified and grossly overweight lifesaver debated that paying enough attention to time and film me would be dangerous to the less-able patrons. Alas, he would go undocumented into the abyss.
After a strong push-off towards the distant end, he felt light and fast, although keeping his stroke in line was difficult coming into the first turn. In what might have been the most technically sound flip turn in his illustrious career, the second fifty looked promising. A quick look at the clock going into the 2nd turn yieled an opening split of 1:04.
But the abyss began to take hold. Strokes turned to flailing arms, kicking turned into...nothing. As the third turn reared its ugly head, a gliding shark slowly turned into an orca whale -- equally efficient, but too large to continue swimming fast.
The last 50 came with another transformation, into the gentle giants of the sea, the manatee. As he slowly slapped his arms over the water, he knew he had failed the trial, but wished to give his best effort.
A final touch! Another quick glance at the clock: 2:16. Then ensued the wheezing, the coughing, and the run to the oversized hot tub. Maybe another day.
1 comment:
Original goal was 2:03, to beat a graduate of Billy's high school named Liz Kemp who swims for the Florida Gators.
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