Swimming Blogs - Garrett McCaffrey

I was toting my pack along the long dusty Winnemucca road
When along came a semi with a high canvas covered load
If your goin' to Winnemucca, Mack with me you can ride
And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside
He asked me if I'd seen a road with so much dust and sand
And I said, "Listen! I've traveled every road in this here land!"

-Johnny Cash

I hear you Johnny, I hear ya. And as long as that road can get at
times, I know the late great Mr. Cash would agree, when you're doing
something you're passionate about and you believe in it's not work...
it's life.



Alright that's as deep as I'll get, I promise. But I can't hide the
gratitude I feel for being in this position. Not just because I get to
talk with and watch some of the greatest minds and bodies in the
swimming world, but because I get to show it to all of you. As a fan,
I can't tell you how cool it is to meet an NCAA champion like Gil
Stovall and learn that out of the pool he's the kind of guy anyone
could get along with. Or to go to Auburn and see first hand that even
the top programs in the country like to have a good time. To feel the
warm hospitality of Athens Georgia, and to see first hand young
coaches like McGee Moody who are constantly pushing the envelope with
ways to improve athletes in fresh new ways. And just being on deck,
hearing tips, and seeing everyday interaction between coach and
athlete with some of the greatest coaches in the world like David
Marsh. As great as those things are in person, I'm so excited that
we've reached a point with our sport that every swimmer in the world
can see what it's like.

The fact that this summer, you'll be able to watch meets live and on
demand as an all inclusive floswimming coverage, means our window of
exposure is here and now. We have reached a level where results can be
more than numbers on a list. Every meet this summer could be
broadcasted live and put on demand, that's what it has come to. And
that's what we deserve. We have served our time with pre-sunrise
workouts, and extra post-sunset dryland. We deserve some recognition
for our hours of work, because that's not why we do it. No one gets
into this sport to get rich or famous, that's what makes the videos
and blogs on this site so real. And the beauty of it is that you can
contribute to this recognition.

A lot of people comment on videos and send me messages asking for
certain interviews or team workouts, but unfortunately I can't be
everywhere. So if you really want to see your local team represented
on floswimming, do something about it. Video tape it, write an article
about it, and if you can show us something I'll put a fancy headline
and a link to it on the top of floswimming. If you have a local meet
coming up, find someone with a camera and get them to film the races.
Have fun with it. Doing play by play, conducting interviews, filming
workouts... all that stuff is fun. And if you enjoy writing, we are hoping to get more news writers on the home page...

It's a new era in swimming. Video and the internet mean access to coaches,
swimmers, and meets is no longer an exception; it should be expected.
It's a great time to be a fan of swimming.

P.S. 100 days to Beijing !!!!