Competitive Swimming at Age 29: Am I Wasting My Time?

Yesterday I hopped in the pool for my first competitive USA Swimming meet in more than ten years. I have been working hard in my master’s practices and although I don’t love racing, I recognize that it is time to do it if I am going to meet some of the goals I have set for myself. As I ran through my warm up surrounded by tons of young people, some of whom were not even born the last time I competed, I was overcome by a sense of self-conscious futility.