The Man in the Arena

In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech that would become timeless.

It has been 32 days since that night in Hawaii when I abandoned my Molokai Channel attempt.

I’m sitting in Singapore Airport preparing to board BA12 to London enroute to Gibraltar. Yep! I did seriously contemplate not doing this right now!

What a month it has been. Work, multiple illnesses, family priorities…Swimming hasn’t featured highly. A full week in bed, a daughter with a broken foot(Poor Sophie!).

So why the reference to the speech? Four seperate people have sent it to me. Powerful shit!

I’ve had a lot of people want to be kept abreast of Gibraltar. The reality is I’ve been very low key about it.

Why?

I’m afraid of failure. I don’t feel prepared. I don’t want to let people down.

Yesterday my coach said something to me. ‘Just keep swimming’. 😌

I’m taking it as a metaphor for a lot of things.

So here’s the deal I made with myself. Let’s not be loud. Let’s be calm. Humble. Let’s go to Gibraltar as planned. But let’s do it for the good of the sport. Not for a list, or a tick in the box. Let’s do it for the experience. For the passion.

So I’m capturing my thoughts here. If you’re reading this, thank you. I’m going to remember why I love swimming, sport. Imagine that!

The Man in the Arena! Have a read! It’s you too!

X

For the love of swimming

Callum