Swimming is my favourite sport. For me, it’s almost a form of meditation: when I get into a state of flow and swimming feels as natural as breathing, the pleasure is hard to describe. It’s a feeling I’ve only ever found in the water.
I started at around 8 years old, during physical education classes at my school. I grew up in an environment that always encouraged sports, and swimming had an extra advantage: a child who can swim has one more layer of safety (or one less fear) in any situation involving a pool, the ocean or a river.
A few years later, I joined a club in Brasília, and what had been a leisure activity turned into serious training: every day, for several hours a day. I started competing for the club and became a registered athlete with the Federal District’s swimming federation, taking part in a number of meets. I’ll admit I never really enjoyed competition itself, even though I stood out a bit, especially in breaststroke. What drove me were time goals, and I improved a lot over the years. In distance and endurance sessions, I’d often swim for more than an hour without stopping.
I’ve also done road running, cycling and basketball, but nothing compared to the pleasure of swimming. Running, in fact, I trained for seriously, mainly for the physical fitness tests required in public-service entrance exams and for military physical training back in my police days. Modesty aside, I did well: a 5 km under 30 minutes with relative ease, and 2,400 m in 12 minutes, the standard in those tests.
With swimming, running and cycling under my belt, I’ve thought about putting all three together in a triathlon. It never got off the ground, mostly because cycling has always been a hobby for me, never training. I’ve also never ventured into open water, apart from a few strokes in the ocean on vacation.
Over time, life pulled me away from the pool, but every now and then I’d come back, at least for a few months a year. Right now I’m on a break, but I plan to return. No set plan yet. Maybe soon.