Here we sweat, I mean sit, for several more hours just to glimpse our children compete for 20.02 seconds … and hopefully even briefer.
Yet, we are an evolved group of homo sapiens. We cheer for any swimmer or diver performing well (though we prefer them to be on OUR team, thanks) and encourage our offspring to graciously wish well toward, then congratulate, their lane mates on a race well swum. Every. Single. Time.
And they do.
Why? In my experience, swimmers/divers are an exceptional group of athletes … and persons. They just are.
They work as hard in the classroom as in the faux lagoon. Probably because they are forced to practice good time management skills.
Moreover, these humans are humane. Meaning, I am hard-pressed to think of many who do not offer respect to elders (yes sirs, thank you ma’ams, Mr. and Mrs. salutations), common courtesy to strangers (holding open doors) and a loyalty to one another that I’ve not always encountered on other fields of play, literal or metaphorical.
These are the sort of people who, although their hearts are broken at being robbed of a school-record due to a dubious DQ in the championship’s last event, will rally around each other in a show of unending loyalty that is nothing short of familial.
And that warms a swim mom’s heart on the ride home through a blustery blizzard — as she smiles proudly for eight solid hours, capisce?
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