Twenty years ago, I swam my final meet as an 18-year-old at Ohio University. A couple of months ago, I found the VHS tapes my parents recorded of those races.
Watching those tapes didn’t just bring back memoriesโฆ it lit a fuse.
I’m Alexander Elkins – a 38-year-old father of three, freelance cinematographer, and former competitive swimmer.
The feeling of “what-ifโฆ” had been sitting there for twenty years. Those tapes set it looseโฆ and now I’m training for USMS Spring Nationals in April 2027, chasing the times I swam at 18.
This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about finding out what I’m actually capable of – at 38, with three kids, a full-time career, and a body that doesn’t recover the way it used to.
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