For the first time since moving to Columbia, I attended a University of Missouri swim meet this morning; it was part of a three-day Men & Women's Invitational. Of course, the experience took me back to my own days as a competitive swimmer.
It was refreshing to be enveloped by the humid, chlorine-scented air once again and it was good to see such a large congregation of fit, enthusiastic young adults. They are certainly larger, stronger and much faster than we were back in the Sixties; they are also adorned with many more tattoos!
I would be remiss not to mention the significant number of black competitors. During my youth, we heard that blacks cannot be competitive swimmers; something to do with heavy bones. Today, we know it had nothing to do with anatomy; it was all about a lack of opportunity.
See also: Thoughts on Competitive Swimming
