Swimming and the Attitude

So you probably heard that micheal phelps got "sidelined" by USA swimming for drinking and driving... maybe not but what you might not have heard of was how he made his come back. To sum it all up he essentially had a eye opening experience at a alcohol rehabilitation centre. The first time anyone saw him since the day he got arrested was at a big meet that happened not to long ago. He showed up in a full beard (kind of protesting that he didn't need to train for this meet... he won by the way). He was really an amazing person and definitely showed he could be a great guy.

Photo Courtesy of wtaq.com

This is a story that most swimmers could go though. We are not the nicest breed (might be the chlorine, I don't know) but we have a lot of heart. We have the heart to not just stop when we've won but to keep going because we know we haven't really won yet. Nobody has, and nobody ever win because life is to short to win everything. If someone not helps us get to a place of peace ( not just telling us how but showing us) we can be really nice people. We can do that for one another in our swimming community because almost all of us have the same sarcastic personality. We know one another, not personally, but just by being and competing at a swim meet really shows who you are. "Show you hot you drive and I will show you who you are." Thats a great quote from my favorite movie, Fast 5. It not only shows that people can know each other from being together but by being around one another.