Retirement

Hello Everyone!!!

It has been some time since my last blog post. I could not believe the amount of e-mails I have received after Olympic Trials, and actually a lot of questions from younger swimmers which I will be answering in another post. Thank you everyone for all the support, and to all the little ones asking me such great questions!!!

This year was a bit of a tough one for me in the pool(mentally and physically). Debating if I should retire or keep swimming. If my heart and mind were still in the sport to keep going. I am entering what some people call the twilight years of swimming. Where there is some time left, but not much until the sand in the hourglass is empty.

So after a long debate with my coaches and support staff. I have decided this year that I will head into retirement after swimming at summer nationals. After being a competitive swimmer for about a third of my life it will be hard to give up. I will most likely still swim, but not at an elite performance level. I was thinking about swimming the 50 breaststroke just for fun whenever I can(Nationals, Masters... a recreational pool near you!!!). So watch out for the randomness!! Possibly coming to a pool near you!!! 

So what is the next step in my life?  I will be taking off to Europe with my sister for an entire month. Which will be the longest time I have ever taken off since I was 11 or 12. I will be traveling with Contiki Tours which if you haven't looked into it check out!


But!!!!! before I start any of that. I got to finish up my last swims this weekend!!!!! I will be swimming the 100 and 50 breaststroke. The 200 has become to far for me to swim... ;)


If anyone has any other questions just shoot me an e-mail warrenbarnes2012@gmail.com. Remember there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Thanks for following me, and Thanks for all the support!!

Go Canada Go

Warren Barnes

No Regrets

I would like to Thank everyone for all of their support and love on my journey to make the  Canadian Olympic Team. I did everything I could do to get there but just had an extremely bad meet/month..... i hurt my lower back lifting weights(could barley walk) and then got the flu for a week..... going way off my best times and have gone faster with intense training on my back... but shit happens and there is nothing i can do about that now but move forward onto my next journey......  So whats next..... I took a much need vacation to my favorite city...Pittsburgh! ... Pitt is a second home to me and I always have a good time there....seeing family,amazing friends and hitting up the hofbrauhaus house(best brewery in the world) .....

I had some other very upsetting news this month.... i just found out that my Grand Father past away..... He was an amazing man who always made everyone laugh and helped me to be the person i am today...we would always play games and he would never go easy on me....even when i was very young..... he would always play his best and it made me get better... i applied this to many things in my life and i cant thank him enough....it was something so simple but is something i still remember to this day practicing so hard at those games so that i could beat him one day(and i did took a while though..haha)..... He was an amazing man and i am glad he got to live a long happy life(he was 90 when he passed).... I mean how many people get to take shots of vodka and party with their Grampa....We had a lot of great times and i learned a lot from him....may he rest in peace....love you Grampa..... The funeral will be held next friday and then our whole family is heading to Cuba to celebrate his life...... which is something he wanted and something i agree with.... that we should celebrate someones life when they pass on......going to Cuba is just a bonus

After Cuba i intend to swim until summer Nationals and then go from there.... like i said in my last blog if i had the money i would keep swimming until my body couldn't do it anymore...

Thanks again to everyone for all their support

Warren

Olympic Trials 2012 - Go Big Or Go Home

This is it. What I have been training for my whole life. A huge final push the last 3 years…. And I race tomorrow to become an Olympian. I thought this last blog post would be a great opportunity for people to get to know my story…. And to do that I need to ask myself the question.

What would my life be like without swimming?

If I never stayed in swimming I would have never made it to university…. I would not have travelled the world. I would not have met absolutely amazing people who changed my life… I might have got into more trouble when I was a kid and in high school I might have got sucked into bad crowd…. I would have never learned that people were wrong about me when I was younger…. I was told that I would never be able to be normal in school and in life….. Many teachers were very negative toward me – discouraging my future and success.


Swimming has been the best thing in my life....it has help me achieve so much and changed me for the better as a person..... whatever happens at these Olympic Trials I would not change a single thing with my life...... If i was given a million dollars and could go back in time..... I would take the exact same path.....the only thing that would change is i would have an ipad......i really would like an ipad.....hahah.....oh and i am sure my sister would have more presents...she loves to get lots of presents... ;)


So make sure to cheer me on and I will keep everyone updated on my results and make sure to watch me live on sportsnet at 7pm eastern time.

Warren