Just Get Wet

Maybe the goal in life isn’t to win

The stories that come out of the Olympics are why I think they’ve lasted for so long. One of my favorite stories comes from the 2000 Olympics in Australia. There was a swimmer they called Eric “the Eel” Moussambani. He won the wildcard spot, which meant he had twelve months to prepare for the Olympics. Not only did he attend, but he also set a world record.

Eric faced two problems. The first was that where he lived in Equatorial Guinea there were no pools for him to practice the 50m swim. In fact, there were no 50m pools in his entire country.

He approached the hotel near his home and asked them to use their pool to train, and they agreed. They gave him two hours, three days per week, at 5 and 6 am.

The second problem was that Eric did not know how to swim.

For twelve months, he put his heart and soul into training. He had no coach. No formal instruction. No team. No specialized gear. Just him and a pool that was far too small.

All of his training culminated with his qualifying swim.

There were two other swimmers in his heat, and both false-started. Meaning that Eric would have to swim his Olympic debut, and first time in a full-sized pool, alone.

In front of 17,000 fans.

When he got out of the water after his swim, Eric had set a world record in the 100m freestyle.

It was officially the slowest that the 100m had ever swum in the history of the Olympics at 1:52.72.

An interviewer asked him how he felt and he said, “I feel good. I am happy.”

I love Eric’s story for one main reason, Eric got wet. He decided he would take his one opportunity to be in the Olympics and make the most of it. The decision he made, to enter the wildcard, train for 12 months, and swim alone 1000s of miles from home, isn’t one that I think I could have made.

I would have been caught up with the reality that I wouldn’t walk away with a medal. Such short-sightedness on my part… Eric jumped into the water, got wet, and walked out of the pool an Olympian.

No one can take that away from him.

So my question to you is this… What pool do you need to jump in? Is there a place in your life you’ve been holding back because you don’t think you’d possibly *win* or live up to the standards of people around you?

American life, modern “first world” living, teaches us that unless you’re going to make a lot of money or be the best, then you shouldn’t try. Trying is for kids and for old people past their prime.

In our middle years, twenty to sixty, let’s say. Those are the years we most often lose the courage to try to do new things that we always wanted to do but were never “good” enough to try — or we didn’t have the time or resources.

The internal dialogue goes something like, “I’d like to skateboard, but that’s not who I am, and I will not be very good.”

Our ego argues against our true self — the self that wants to jump in the pool to see what getting wet feels like. Your ego is trying to protect you from embarrassment or bodily harm, but listening to the voice of your ego prevents you from stepping out in the light of your potential. And the light of life-changing experiences.

I hope you’ll try because you might find that when you step out of the pool, you are a new person. Even if your new identity is something as simple as “John: bird watcher,” or “Sally The Cowboy Hat wearer,” you’re stepping out and trying.

Oh, and Eric? He went on to inspire his nation to build two 50m pools and became to swim coach for his country.

He also continued to swim and his personal best in the 100m was 00:56.9 — nearly a full minute off his first attempt.

You’ll never know if you don’t try.