I was a competitive swimmer as a teenager, only stopping when I got persistent ear infections. Every day was a 6 A.M. start to swim before lessons, then choir or dance classes after.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The doctors told me my hearing would get worse if I continued swimming, but I loved the water so much, I just couldn't stop.
I was a competitive swimmer in middle school and high school.
I walked away from the sport for 17 years, then started swimming again recently in a master's program.
I was an avid swimmer and was state champ at age 12.
As a young child, I suffered from poor health. My parents encouraged me to swim, which really improved my condition.
I swam very competitively till I was 15, then I swam for fun until I was 18. But athletics remain a very big part of my life. I try to keep that as much in balance with work as I can.
My father was a swim teacher. We used to swim before school, swim after school.
I started swimming when I was four because my brother wanted to join a swim team, and I wanted to do what he did. They said I had to be six, but if I could swim a lap, then I could participate. So I swam a lap, and the rest is history.
I swam at school a lot. Long-distance swimming in pools, and diving, then when we moved to Hastings when I was 13 I used to swim in the sea all the time; I loved it out of season and when it was rough.
I can't swim at the level I used to. I had to retire because of an injury to my shoulder.