“I’m only fast compared to most people.”

So I had a great swim today. The girl in the lane next to me was right about my speed, so I was working to keep up with her (and kept thinking, *damn*, but she’s really got me on the flip turns), and she started working to stay ahead of me, so we both got a good swim in, and after I was done I said, “Man, you really kicked my butt on the flip turns,” and she said, “I was thinking the same thing about you!” *laugh* We had a nice talk about possessiveness of lanes and why don’t people swim in lanes of appropriate speed (they are supposed to be, starting on one side or the other, slow medium fast fast medium slow) and there’s an Asian guy in a tiny swimsuit who’s really fast, and she talked about one time when she’d done about 10 laps against him, and had worked her butt off to keep up, and when she was done he said, “Man, you’re really making me work for it today!” So apparently she and I are far from the only ones who do that. *laugh*

Anyway, so I usually swim in the medium lane, because there are people like the Asian guy in the tiny swimsuit who are really genuinely fast, and I don’t want to get in their way. But while I was getting out of the pool, I had this sort of random thought: I’m only fast compared to most people.

And then I was like o.O *giggle* Because, well, see! I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on my capabilities, and I know there are swimmers who are much, much faster than I am. So I really don’t think of myself as being a fast swimmer. And I’m not.

Except compared to most people.

o.o

yards swum: 5600