Once, during a training session in the pool, I met a long-distance swimmer, who was just finishing his training session: “how many kilometres-a-day do you swim?”, I asked and he replied: “about 18”.
I was literally astounded by what he said and began to think: 18 km? In the pool? More or less 360 laps of an Olympic-size pool or 720 of a 25-metre pool. I wonder what he thinks about all the time while he stares at the black line on the bottom of the pool, I asked myself. After a few minutes feeling dismayed, I began to think about what goes through my head while I am swimming and whether I actually focused on that blue line while I am training.
I think swimming is a bit like meditating. At the beginning of my training session, I start to focus on the bottom of the pool, stroke after stroke, studying my shadow or the water my body slowly but constantly pushes during. I begin to sense the lack of gravity, a feeling of floating and lightness and, indeed, of staring at that black line. But that reassuring mark showing me the way ahead also serves as a starting point as I become lost in my thoughts as I swim up and down the pool. The contrast in colour compared to the water in the pool hypnotises me, distracts me and really does let me empty my…
