People

First, let me wish my brother a very Happy Birthday! And if you see Pat today, please give him a high-five, or offer to buy him a McMuffin or something.

Hmm. I just realized that I've never really written very much about my younger sibling, even though he has obviously been an important part of my life. There are many good stories I could share: swimming, marching band, karate, baseball, running, and countless hours of philosophizing. And of course, there's so much I could say about how proud I am of his honorable service to our country during his years in the Marine Corps. But I'm going to save those tales for another time. For now, I'll just say "Happy Birthday, Dude!"

But that does kinda provide a lead-in to my main topic of the day:

I get to hang out with some really cool people!

If I had to choose one person (other than my parents) who deserves credit for starting me moving toward the fortunate position in which I find myself, it would probably be Herbert Everett Bevan III. Herbie is the guy who talked me into joining the Harvest Park swim team when I was 9 years old. And it was while I was wearing the green and white stripes of the HP swimteam that I met Mickey Canaday, who swam for our dreaded rivals, the red-and-white-striped Westlink team. Despite the mutual animosity among our teams, Mickey and I somehow became friends. A couple of years later, he convinced me to join the Wichita Swim Club. And it was the wonderful people at WSC that made swimming such an enjoyable and indispensable part of my life that I ended up becoming a Masters coach, which is where I've met many of the amazing folks who make my life so enjoyable every single day.

I could go on and on (and undoubtedly will, at some point) about my team members who invigorate and motivate me on a daily basis. These poolmates, biking pals, and local running role models don't get a lot of attention for their consistently positive attitudes and awesome abilities to inspire me to be my best...and they won't today, either; I want to talk about celebrities!

This is the first time one of my swim practices has been attended by TWO swimmers who will very likely represent the US at the Olympics this summer.

The smiling woman pictured here is Ryan McLean: charismatic swim coach, writer, science teacher...and holder of multiple American Records. She considers backstroke and breaststroke to be her best strokes, but has also gone out and set a record in the 1500 freestyle, just for the heck of it. You can read about her Paralympic journey at http://ryanistryin.blogspot.com/. (Be sure to click on the "Donate" button on the right side of the screen where you can contribute to her training fund.) We're hoping that Ryan decides to train with Foothills Masters regularly, but since her first workout with us was on a day when I was coaching, chances are probably slim. Sigh.

A few lanes over from Ryan, we also welcomed back the multitalented Sammy Achterberg, who is on the US Pentathlon Team. Sammy swims with us whenever she's in the neighborhood (I've written about her before), and has just returned from a World Cup competition. Since Pentathlon involves the the dangerous skills needed to be a military commando (eg shooting and swordfighting), one of the guys in the locker room commented that we had all better be extremely nice to her. You can read Sammy's training blog here.

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I mean, seriously, how cool is my life? Not only do I have awesome friends and inspirational workout buddies who brighten my life every single day, but I occasionally get to share lanes with elite athletes like Sammy and Ryan. Oh yeah, I know it's not hip to be a name dropper like this, but I have no shame... and it's just so cool!

Man, I love being a swimmer. I owe you one, Herbie!