Back to school, and now back to the pool. Yep, training has resumed after some down time since the Paris meet. Coach Reese (who’s the college coach at Texas and also our Olympic coach) has got us swimming once a day for now, but the load should be picking up as we get back into better shape.

I swam about 6,000 yards the other day. It sounds like a lot (well, it is), but we break it up so we’re not swimming it all at once. We’ll do something like swim three 200-yard rounds, then three 100-yard rounds, then three 50-yard rounds, and then we’ll rest and start all over. We also shake it up by practicing different strokes.

It took me about two hours to complete the workout. Let me tell ya, it’s tough getting back into shape even after just a few weeks of vacation. It’s much easier to be in shape and stay there.

In the coming days, a few of the other "post grads," Coach and I will sit down and assess our upcoming schedule – which meets to compete in, whether to travel or stay local, all that stuff.

And just for clarification: I don’t actually compete as a University of Texas athlete anymore, haven’t since the spring of 2004 when I turned pro. Rules are little different for swimmers in the Olympics. Whereas some sports only allow amateur athletes to compete, pros are allowed to swim in the Olympics.

I gotta run for now. No really. Coach has us doing stadium runs this afternoon. ...

AP