what i do.

at least once a week i meet someone new and they ask me, "what do you do?" my answer is always the same: "swim." 

let me invite you into the life of a swimmer.

i swim on a team. this team isn't just an average sports team, this team is a family. we all wake up at 4:30 a.m. to meet at the pool. we share sweat, water bottles, cliff bars, and mutual pain. after being beat up beyond repair, we do required duties such as school, work, whatever and meet back at the pool for more pain at 3:00.  to say i love it would be an understatement.  i absolutely adore it. i love swimming 5 hours a day. i love that every time i dive off the blocks, i know someone is going to be at the end screaming at me to go faster. i love that i know every time i'm behind the blocks for a race, someone will yell "shake and bake." yeah, we fight like siblings, but we all love each other so much.  my team is my family.

the pool is my retreat.  it's where i work out my pains and frustrations.  the pool is where i can kill my body and forget about life.  the pool is where i push myself to the point that i feel like i'm going to explode, and love it.  the pool is that one place in life where nothing else matters but achieving my goals.

swimming gives me such satisfaction in life, and it's a part of me that i couldn't ever live without.  swimming's the feel of the cool water rushing past your body as you dive into the pool. it's that perfect pull-down and flawless breakout.  it's holding your breath until you're going to pass out, and trying to whistle with two fingers when you get to the wall.  swimming is everything. it's me, it's my life, it's my swimming.  and i love it.

swimmers.

-they do more by 6:45 a.m. than most people do in a day.

-they're the only people on earth that look forward to a 5:30 a.m. practice because they get 15 extra minutes of sleep.

-they smell like chlorine 24/7.

-wet hair consumes their lives.

-they know that 70 random caps are a good investment.

-they eat double that of any other athlete.

-their team is a family.

-they view their coach as a second father.

-they hook themselves to a wall and swim away from it.

-they're the worst "happy birthday" singers in the history of the earth.

-they relish in the 100ths of a second.

-their goals outweigh any social life.

-they swim.

i'm brittani finlayson and i'm a swimmer.