Dark and Early

Sunrises are one of the few good things about morning practice.

"See you tomorrow! Bright and ea--oops...I mean dark and early!" For a swimmer, that would make sense. Any other person would think, wait a minute, doesn't the saying go "bright and early?" That's how any average person would say it, but for swimmers? We don't see any brightness whatsoever when we see each other for the first time in the morning. I don't think it even qualifies to be called "the morning." It's basically nighttime. It's pitch black, and the sun doesn't come out for awhile.

Welcome to the world of competitive swimming. We wake up before the crack of dawn. What for? Morning practice. Yes, that's right, we wake up when you can still see the moon just for morning practice. People think it's insane, and it is. To be a swimmer, you have to be a little bit insane. Nobody in the right mind would wake up that early just for a workout. Do you see any other sports waking up at 5 AM for practice? Nope, just swimming.

But despite waking up that early, I will admit, there are a few (I repeat, few) perks of going to morning practice. One, you get to see the sunrise most days (if you're not swimming during it). Two, it wakes you up in the morning (kind of). And three...I can't think of a third benefit, sorry.

It's foggy, it's cold, and it's miserable, but I guess you can say that it's beneficial in the long-run. Although we may not see the point in morning practices at the times when we're actually in the water, we see them pay off at the times that count: our huge competitions. And then we're (somewhat) thankful that we dragged ourselves out of bed and for our coaches that forced us in the water.