Three things, kept short

The 200 butterfly is long enough to punish bad pacing and short enough that there is nowhere to hide. It became the event I kept coming back to in competitive swimming.

Training for it taught me to break an uncomfortable race into pieces — start controlled, hold technique when everything gets heavy, and still have enough left to race the final length.

I played varsity water polo at Diamond Bar High School and earned Freshman of the Year recognition. The sport gave me a different kind of team experience from swimming, where a race can feel intensely individual even when the team score matters.