What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
Swimming is the Olympic sport I most enjoy watching.
Part of that is cultural. As an Australian, I have grown up in a country where water is woven into ordinary life. We are surrounded by beaches, pools and waterways. Hundreds of thousands of people volunteer as surf lifesavers so that others can enjoy the water safely. Ocean swims, triathlons and swimming carnivals are all part of the rhythm of life here. It is no surprise that our swim team attracts such interest, or that we follow them with such affection at the Olympics.
What is slightly ironic is that I do not especially love swimming myself. I can swim, but I have never found joy in doing laps. Some people seem able to lose themselves in the steady movement up and down a pool. I understand the appeal, but it has never worked for me. I am more likely to lose myself on a long bushwalk than in the water.
Perhaps that is one reason I admire elite swimmers so much. I have known a number of them over the years, and I am in awe of their discipline. I am also in awe of their families. Swimming is not only an individual commitment. It often involves years of early mornings, long drives, careful routines and quiet sacrifice. That kind of excellence is never accidental.
I also know how fine the line can be between being a very good swimmer and becoming a champion. At the Olympic level, the margins are so small that most of us can barely see them, but they represent years of work. That is part of what makes it so compelling to watch. You are not only seeing a race. You are seeing the outcome of an entire way of life.
That is why swimming remains the highlight of the Olympics for me. It carries something of Australia in it, but it also reveals something universally admirable: dedication, sacrifice and the pursuit of excellence over time.
The Afterword 
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