Krypton and Kedron have a lot of the same letters. I say that for a reason that I'll reveal shortly. First a quick update. Benn is in Charlotte training for the US Olympic Team Trials which will be held there April 12th through 14th. Davis set a school record in the Hammer at University of Illinois. Those two public service announcements are actually a good lead in to an explanation of the initial reference.
While Benn was living at home and paddling whitewater slalom, I also got a beat up old boat and started racing too. Then while Davis was home and making heavy stuff land great distances from a ring, I also picked that up. Consequently Addie has been asking me for some time now when I would start swimming with her. I finally ran out of excuses.
Yesterday Addie took me to swim at the Krypton Fieldhouse Swimming Pool. People who are from that planet seem to flourish there. There was a guy in the lane next to us who was high in the water, making strokes with very little effort, looking ridiculously smooth and swimming so fast I think I could have water skied behind him. It didn't work like that for me.
Coach Addie told me that my warm up consisted of 100 free and 50 kick. That's Kryptonese for 4 laps swimming freestyle, which is the only style I know anyway. Then two laps just kicking while holding on to the floatie thingy, which turns out to be called a kick board. Technically I never actually finished the warm up. I did okay on the 100 free.
When it came time to do the 50 kick, I grabbed the flo... um kick board and shoved hard off the wall, feeling the swift flow of water over my body. I kicked like a mad man. I worked it hard and fast. I gave it everything I had. I just knew I was keeping up with Addie. After all I am much taller and stronger. Quickly however I lost touch with the swift water feeling around my body. Remembering I had on goggles I decided to open my eyes and look. I couldn't tell much. I'm not used to looking at the pool bottom through goggles. We don't do that on my planet. I just kept kicking hard with determination. I was sort of surprised to see a tadpole swimming on the bottom nearly matching my pace.
After a few more kicks I realized that the black spot wasn't a tadpole after all, and I had been looking at it since I first opened my eyes. I wasn't moving. I was getting a great cardio workout. I don't remember ever feeling like I was sweating in water before, but there you have it. The Krypton Pool might as well have been 25 miles long instead of 25 yards. I wasn't getting there.
Coach Addie insisted that we try it again, and again, and again until I finished. I didn't finish. It's going to take a while I think. She did finally decide we should move on though. We moved on to something easy, Butterfly. Swimming is about as natural to me as flying. I have just as many wings as I have gills, just as many feathers as scales. Swimming Butterfly is probably slightly harder than when Icarus flew too close to the sun. And that kick, Dolphin Kick? I don't even eat Dolphin. Why would I try to kick like one. I did make a little progress when Coach Addie told me my butt needs to breathe during the dolphin kick. I didn't quite get what she meant but I was glad she understood that some part of me needed to breathe. My shabby butt was hanging on the side of the pool huffing and puffing after every lap.
Coach Addie is pretty good. She did help me as much as I am probably capable of being helped. She really has to correct one flaw in her coaching however. She stopped me once to give a pointer before I finished a lap. I stopped to listen quickly realizing I was in the deep end well over my head and completely done in with not much chance of restarting now. I starting seeing the bright light. Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk to the end of the pool on the bottom when you're butt is dying for air? She should probably let me get to the end of the pool before coaching.
I have to finish and just say next week we're going to work on freestyle and breast stroke. I promised her one day a week. I can't type much more today though because my arms are cramping and I have to stop to rest every few words. I have a plan for the warm up next week though. I'm going to take a belt and tie on a couple of extra floatie thingies.
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