Swimming Blogs - Joshua Baseheart

Hi, my name is Josh, and I work full time. Oh yeah, and I swim full time too. By "swim full time", I mean train as much as I can around a 40 hour/week job. I am currently training for Olympic Trials this summer, and I'm trying to squeeze in as much quality training as I can before then. I am 25 years old, and for the past three and a half years, I've been keeping this crazy schedule of working 8-9 hour days, going to swim practice for about 2 hours, lifting weights for about an hour (three times a week), eating dinner, going to bed, and repeating 5 days a week. Each weekend, I only have to train for about 5 hours, and then I have all weekend to do the things that other people would do during the week - laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I'm not trying to complain, just give people a little overview of the life of a post-grad working swimmer.

After reading a lot of the blogs here, I decided to start my own, to document my story/progress as we head toward Olympic Trials this summer. Now I am in no way a "favorite" going into Trials, but I am trying to prepare myself the best I can, because you never know what can happen, and I believe that everyone at that meet has a chance to shape the Olympic Team. By that, I mean that every swimmer at that meet can have an affect on the competition around them, even if they don't end up making the team. The least I can do is bring an honest effort out of those around me by providing my best. I have a feeling this is going to be an insanely fast Trials, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

For a long time, my goal was just to make it to Olympic Trials, but now that I've got some cuts, I'm going to make the most of it. Yes, this is my first Olympic Trials, and I'm not sure there are many other 25 year-olds that are on their way to their first Trials. There are probably many reasons for that - if you haven't already made it to Trials (or further) by the time you're done with college, chances are you are not making a living off of swimming, in which case, you need to get a job. Most people would agree that training 15-20 hours a week on top of a 40 hour/week job is a lot to handle, not to mention the sacrifices you have to make (social life, etc.). Trust me, it is taxing, but it is what I want to do, and the last two years have been my best two swimming years ever.

When I finished college swimming, I knew that I wasn't satisfied with my swimming career yet, so I continued training and competing. My college conference meet my senior year was probably the worst meet of my college career, and I was left feeling unsatisfied. Right then, I had to make a choice - to retire and move on with my life, or to chase down the goals that had eluded me so far. At that point, I had not yet qualified for Trials, but it was my goal to compete at Olympic Trials, so I had some work ahead of me. I made the choice to keep training, and since then, I've been training intensely on top of working, and I've had remarkable success at it. I have since qualified for Olympic Trials in the 50 and 100 free, and I think I'm still getting better.

I'm on my way to Texas tomorrow for the American Long Course Championship. This is my first trip to Austin, so I'm excited. But that means I've got to pack and get to bed. Until next time, good night!