The Toronto Speedo convention

I've just signed up for the Canadian Masters Swimming Championship, which takes place over four days in Toronto this May.

The last time I swam at Nationals was three years ago in Saskatoon. My parents flew out to cheer me on. They thought it sounded important and exciting. They did not realize they would be stuck inside a pool the whole weekend watching a bunch of old people take 10 minutes to swim two lengths of the pool.

My dad was so inspired that he returned to Toronto and became a competitive swimmer himself. Since then, he has raced in a few swim meets in Ontario and even won a few medals. When I found out Nationals would be in Toronto this year, I thought it would be fun if my dad and I signed up together.

Over the next two months, my training will consist of swimming five times a week, and sculpting the guns twice a week at the gym. Plus lots of sleep, healthy food, and no more alcohol until after the race.

My dad’s training consists of going to public swim and chatting up young, fast swimmers. My dad even stopped one guy who was tearing up the pool to ask if he would be swimming at Nationals (he is). He also found out how old he was (30) and what he did for a living (engineer). Now my dad is setting up a time and place for us to meet while I’m in Toronto.

My parents are also inviting other swimmers from my swim club to stay at their house in Toronto during the meet. Which I’m not sure is such a good idea considering what happened in Saskatoon when they secretly invited my teammates into their hotel room after a few glasses of wine to dish some dirt about me.