I like going fast. I’m not alone in this. All sorts of things in our world are geared toward going fast. Sports, for one. There’s NASCAR and such. And then, how about track and field, or downhill skiing? So many, really. People like to go fast. Race cars, roller coasters, or bungee jumping. Animals are fast, too. Cheetahs. The Pronghorn Antelope. Quarter horses. And many more.
But what about the swimmers in our world? As it turns out, the ocean, the deep, mysterious, wonderful ocean, has its fair share of speedy characters.
Their secret? Streamlined bodies, powerful tails, and fins that steer like precision rudders.
At the top of the list is the sailfish. Yes, the reigning champion, swimming away at nearly 70 miles per hour. Credit its muscular body and sail-like fin that make it so super, super fast.
Close behind is the swordfish, clocking in at about 60 mph. Its sword-shaped bill isn’t just for show. That sword helps this sleek fish cut right through the water. As a note. The swordfish also has a built-in “heater” near its brain that keeps its eyes sharp in colder seas. I need one.
Okay. This is my favorite, just because of the name. And that is the wahoo. It is another speedster swimming at 48 mph. It has a torpedo body and razor teeth.
Sharks get their turn too. The mako shark tops all the other sharks at 46 mph. The blue shark is a fast one as well. It moves along at 43 mph and is known for crossing entire oceans.
Speaking of sharks, I should tell you this. The great white shark clocks in at over 25 mph. But now, consider this very important public service announcement:
Elite swimmers have been clocked at around 5–6 mph in short sprints such as the 50-meter freestyle. But the average Olympic-level swimmers, like in a 100-meter freestyle, can sustain around 4.5–5 mph. And the average swimmer who is in really good shape? Well, they only average about 2 mph.
The point? There’s no outswimming the great white, in case you were wondering.
These are just a few of the speedy fish in our great blue waters. The ocean is incredible. It is vast and amazing. Scientists estimate there are about 3.5 trillion individual fish in the world’s oceans. And with that, it is quite mysterious.
It reminds us that life is deep and we can never see it all. Sometimes it runs fast, and sometimes it runs slow. But no matter how it moves, we move with it.
Just as these fish glide through the ocean with speed and fluidity, we too can move through life with a sense of grace and flow.
Maybe the secret isn’t just in how fast these fish move, but in how they move. With the ease of a natural rhythm. They slip through the water with incredible lightness.
And there we are, too. We move through life best when we find our own flow, letting the currents guide us rather than fighting against them.
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“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” — Rumi
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“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” — Thomas Merton
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“The river makes its way, not by fighting the rocks, but by flowing around them.” — John Brinkman
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“Flow is the process of being absorbed in an activity to the point that nothing else seems to matter.” — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
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