Cathy's Sparks of Inspiration

I suppose it started last August when a colleague of mine did the NYC triathlon.

"It sounds challenging and fun but I could never do the swim," I declared.

He proceeded to tell me the swim wasn't that bad when you consider it's a down current swim on the Hudson and the wetsuit gives you some buoyancy.

I tucked the thought away and said, "Well, maybe someday I'll put it on my bucket list."

When my husband and I travelled to Catalina Island, CA in November we encountered and spoke with a number of triathletes who had just finished a triathlon. I was intrigued.

Then there was another encounter with someone my husband Mike works with. She had done some triathlons and told me she too had needed to learn how to swim.

So when I walked into my new "winter gym" - the Tully Health Center in Stamford, CT that I had won a 3 month membership to at a silent auction - and I saw an inviting pool and a sign advertising private swim lessons, I knew I had to at least give the swimming thing a try.