Anthony Ervin is the first American Black gold medalist. He tied with Gary Hall Jr. in the 50 free in the 2000 Athens Olympics. He was also part of the silver medal winning 4 x 100 relay team. He was 19.

The following year, he also won gold in the 50 and 100 free events in the World Championships in Fukuoka,Japan. He also won the NCAA championship in the 100 free that year.

What happened after that could be contributed to burnout, confusion, being lost, or all of the above.

He retired from swimming in 2004, before the Olympic trials. He left college without graduating, hoping to become a musician. His retirement canceled a speedo endorsement, and even though he said he didn’t want to live by the dollar, Ervin did say that the money may have kept him in the sport.

In 2005, Ervin sold his gold medal in an online auction. He donated the $17,000 it netted to Unicef’s Tsunami Relief Fund.

He also returned to competitive swimming in 2005. While touring Japan in 2005, Ervin was looking for some way to make a difference. Weeks after returning home, the tsunami hit the are he had just been visiting. He found what he needed to do: sell his medal and give the money to the relief effort.

In his enigmatic style, Ervin sold the medal, which he felt reminded him of his selfish pursuit of the gold medal, and he used this selfless act as a chance to get back into swimming. He talked of winning another gold. His former coach said that he could see Ervin competing until 2012.

But Anthony Ervin had to want it. The field was too crowded and competitive for someone who was not serious.

He’s still a young man. It is hard to find any current information on Anthony Ervin. He sounds like a very talented swimmer who has lost his way. He is really into being a guitar player with tatooed arms. He went from being agnostic to being a mix of three religions, including buddhism.

I could find no trace of his having swum in the 2008 Olympic trials, even though there was a lot of media coverage on Gary Hall Jr., the man he tied with in 2000. I’d be interested to see if Ervin’s coach was right about his swimming in the 2012 Olympics.

I follow Cullen Jones on twitter. He posts pictures from various places he has been. He also talks about highlights from his day. One recent highlight was how he threw a strike at a baseball game. He posted a picture from the game.

Today he tweeted that HBO Real Sports followed his mother and him to church, along with a picture of the two. His mother doesn’t look old enough to have a son in his twenties, does she?

It wasn’t until I googled Cullen Jones and HBO Real Sports that I found out the details of what he has been doing. The baseball game? A Kansas City Royals game. Where he was honored. His recent traveling? To promote Make a Splash. He has been speaking and teaching children to swim everywhere he goes.

Now he’s back home. And his hometown is really proud of him. I don’t blame them.

In the end, I opted out of riding on the boat. It was under 60 degrees and raining. But my husband and teenagers went out on our friends’ boat.

It went 39 mph, and made the air seem frigid. Everyone was soaked when they came back in, and the kids were treated to cocoa, as if they had been skiing instead of boating.

My husband could get into this, though. I’d love to have a boat in our future; life on the water in our future, too.

I had planned on swimming in my sister in law’s pool at the end of this week.

I should have gone on Monday! It has rained for three days straight and tomorrow promises cool temperatures, if not more rain.

So, is that an unspoken rule of outdoor swimming? Strike while the iron (the sun in this case) is hot?

My husband and I may or may not find ourselves on a boat tomorrow. That would depend on whether or not the weather is hotter than the predicted 68 degrees.
Brrrr.

Guess who had a paid orientation at her new job today?

Yes, it’s official. My daughter is now a swim instructor at the Y. She got her cute little red shirt that says Lifeguard on the back. As well as a stack of papers to read.

Her best friend is a lifeguard in another state. She says her job involves sitting and staring, opening and closing the pool. Not much swimming. My daughter will actually get in the water and tread a lot when the little ones venture to the deep end.

Not bad for someone who pretended like she hated swimming. I’m trying really hard not to gloat.

You didn’t have to tell me twice. The green light on swimming had me cheerfully up at 5 AM to get in my pool time before the family woke up. Except the baby. And then, her big sister, so she could watch her. So we three loaded up the car with swim gear and headed to the Y.
It was 5:40 when I got in the pool.

Stephani and her husband were already there, finishing up their set. They always make me feel like a slacker. But their youngest child is like 12, so there you go. Btw, random factoid, their youngest child is the one that competed in the kid triathlon, and he actually won for his age group. Just one of the things I found out during our chat in the pool.

I swam my first 50 alongside Stephani, and surprised myself by beating her. Then I was all winded and pitiful and avoided trying to race her any more. Mind you, I hadn’t tried to race her in the first place. I just can’t help myself. She is strong and in great shape, and she kept up a steady pace until it was time for her to leave. I was inspired to try to keep my hanging on the wall panting to a minimum.

My new goggles helped there. They sucked unto my face and held on for dear life. What’s up with goggles that someone as blind as I am can see clearly what’s on the bottom of the pool in my goggles? Things that make you go hmmmm.

I timed my one IM: 2:56.63. Very slow. But it has been over a month, and I came in under 3 minutes, so that makes me happy. I knew I was slowing down as my set dragged on when I went from taking 16 strokes to the flag to 19 on my back stroke. I swam 900 yards. Pretty decent after so much time off. My muscles were sore afterwards, so I guess that was about right.

The pool will be closed from the 31st to the 8th, so I better get in another swim before then! I also plan to hit my sister in law’s pool before the end of summer.