Creative Nonfiction by Andrea Badgley
Our daughter’s favorite swimming event is the mile. For 33 laps, she maintains nearly the same pace for every 50 yards she swims: 34.54 sec, 34.86 sec, 35.12 sec, 34. 52 sec. It amazes me how she can hold almost the exact same pacing, each within tenths of a second of the lap before, for … Continue reading Endurance pacing for work and life
There is nothing fun about getting in a pool on a January day. I’m here at the aquatic center along with the regulars who swim while their kids practice with the swim team. I always inch in, starting first by standing on the tile on the edge of the pool, then stepping down to the … Continue reading 5:27am at the aquatic center
It was 12℉ (-11℃) this morning when our daughter and I pulled out of the garage at 5:10 to drive to swim practice. Less than 12 hours prior, when we were on our way home from swim practice, she told me she wanted to start going to morning practices on Wednesdays. “They do power towers … Continue reading Frozen swim gear
Dear Swimming, As much as I complain about you — about the middle of the night wakeups, about the cost, about the 3-day swim meets where we spend 18 hours at the pool for 12 minutes of our daughter swimming — I love you dearly. I abandoned you for many years. I used a tread … Continue reading Love Letter to Swimming
I think a lot. My mind is always going. Words and thoughts run and run and run through my head. When I’m in the shower, ideas come to me. When I run, I turn problems over in my brain. Tuesday, when I went for a swim, I had a couple of problems I planned to … Continue reading Blissfully blank
Our ten-year-old daughter has been swimming on the H2Okies swim team for about 3 years now. She loves it not for the winning, or even the chance to win (she doesn’t win), but because she is at home in the water, because she has fun, and because she gets to hang out on deck with … Continue reading Exciting news from the pool deck
