If only . . .

A tri club friend told me abut his 18-year-old son's success in a recent national swimming competition. As I do the press stuff for the club (volunteer position) I duly posted the fab story on the forum. I thought little more about it except to believe that his record breaking times must be awesome.

But then, a little later, I stopped to consider his times. 4mins 24 secs for 400m individual medley which apparently includes 100m fly, 100m breast, 100m back and 100m freestyle. Wow! I'd struggle to do 400m of freestyle only in less than 7 mins (and that's after spending quite a bit of time in the pool being coached).

If only I'd learned how to swim properly as a child I might a) look less like a teddy bear in a washing machine b) be faster at crawl than breast stroke c) have a much improved chance of making it out of the pool during a triathlon before everyone else has done their first lap of the bike course.

Then again, it might also be a talent thing. Whatever, I am now utterly in awe of my pal's son.