Would You Rather Be a Fish?

Remember the old Bing Crosby hit "Swinging on a Star"? Part of the lyrics go "..a fish is an animal that swims in a brook..He can't write his name or read a book.." Well, that certainly doesn't explain the subject of today's post. Not only can he write his name and read a book, but he has more degrees than I can count on one hand! Three of my grandchildren call him "Dad". And boy, can he swim - like a fish.

I brag on my grandchildren frequently, but I like to brag on the "grown-ups" in my family as well. My son-in-law Branch is a dedicated swimmer, arising early for a 5:30 am Masters swim class at the University of Texas, where he attends when he is not in Amarillo at his medical practice. I went with daughter Carajean to see him swim in a small tournament at UT a few years back. He had just started taking up serious swimming again. He didn't win then unlike his current races. He is ever the example of "practice makes perfect"- and an inspiration to our family. He's modest, but I talked him out of information on the National tournament he entered held in California this past summer. His results are listed below:

2019 USMS Summer Nationals Final Results, 8/7 - 8/11

Marguerite Aquatic Center, Mission Viejo, CA

Results

Men 60-64 1500-Meter Free  

Archer, Branch T.  Age 60   1st Place   (TXLA-43)   Time 19.54.21 Min.

Men 60-64  200-Meter Fly

Archer, Branch T.  Age 60   2nd Place   (TXLA-43)    Time 2.39.29 Min.

Men 60-64  400-Meter IM*

Archer, Branch T. Age 60   3rd Place    (TXLA-43)     Time 5.43.78 Min.

Men 60-64 400-Meter Free

Archer, Branch T.   Age 60   4th Place  (TXLA-43)  Time 5.00.21 Min.

Men 60-64  200-Meter Breast

Archer, Branch T.   Age 60   4th Place   (TXLA-43)   Time 3.08.99 Min.

Men 60-64 200-Meter Back

Archer, Branch T.   Age  60  7th Place  (TXLA-43)   Time 2.42.82 Min.

The TXLA-43 stands for Texas Longhorns Aquatics, Region 43.

*The IM stands for Individual Medley, which is a combination of equal parts butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and free style. (I had to ask this!) Winners receive patches to sew on clothing as well as medals. Each contestant is only allowed to swim in at most, six races. There were nearly 20 swimmers in each of his races.

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Writing about Branch's swimming prowess reminds me of a cruise he and Carajean took me on in 2006. I wrote about the following incident on my Class of '57 blog, but I don't believe I told the story on this blog.  Here goes:

"By the time we got to St. Maarten, our final stop before returning home, we were all having a great time. Branch booked us on a catamaran tour that would anchor at a couple of places allowing folks to swim and snorkel. Having had a delicious rum punch onboard the Golden Eagle, I let the grandchildren talk Grandmama into getting into the water with one of the 'noodles' that they assured me would keep me afloat. It was such a beautiful day and the beach seemed very close. I thought I could mosey on over to the beach on my 'noodle', dog paddling as I went.

"Wrong! The waves were much stronger than they looked and I had not been in an ocean since being diagnosed with 'mild' emphysema. When the waves would hit me, I felt like the breath was being knocked out of me. Of course, that made me panic, which made it even harder to catch my breath. I captured my granddaughter’s eye and waved her over. She tried to pull me to shore, with no success. Then she said she would swim to the boat and get my emergency inhaler. 

"As she left me there with a second 'noodle', some young men playing touch football on the beach spotted my dilemma. One swam over and asked if he could help. God bless him, he was a medical student and thrilled at the prospect of 'saving' someone! He got me to shore, told me to do deep breathing, and ran to get me a bottle of water. 

"By now, I was thoroughly embarrassed and beginning to attract a lot of attention. I told him Audrey went for my inhaler and soon we saw my son-in-law Branch swimming towards us with one hand in the air, holding a plastic bag containing the inhaler. The young medical student asked me if he should swim after it. Between big gulps of air, I told him my son-in-law was not only a physician but also had been a competition swimmer! I hated to burst his bubble, as he was so kind and helpful.

"By the time I was using the inhaler, Carajean swam over and told us that the catamaran crew was putting a rubber dinghy into the water to come rescue me! We watched as two good-looking, tanned young men dropped the dinghy over the side and did a few figure 8s with it in the water before getting down to the business of rescuing me. When C.J. saw them her eyes got big and she said, 'I think I’d better go with you, Mom. This looks like fun!'

"I was treated to a shower to get the sand off and then a few minutes on the oxygen tank. My humiliation was complete, but I was one grateful grandmother for all the assistance!" 

That trip was full of "fun" experiences. You can read about it if you wish..CJ, We Don't Want To Cruise With You

I've never been in a body of water larger than a hot tub since then. I'd rather not be a fish - or swim with them!

I hope your summer was full of fun experiences.

Marilyn