The Day I Swam as Fast as Janelle

Before I joined Endurance Nation, I would go through 4 week cycles that would start with an earnest commitment to improve my swim, get to the pool 4 times a week cuz that's what the pros do, master the 400 IM. By week 2.5, my enthusiasm for chlorinated water would be completely vaporized. At the end of week 4, I'd scold myself into another frustration filled, soul-sucking cycle.
So when I read the chapter in the EN Book about no swimming necessary in the Out Season, the low ROI with swimming, I just about leapt out of my chair and cried, "Hallelujah!" A 90 minute swim isn't just 90 minutes out of my day. It's a 20 min drive one way, 20 minutes of changing, showering afterward, and another 20 min drive home. A 2.5 hour hole in my schedule...for what? Maybe an extra 3 minutes off my IM swim split? If I spent an extra 2.5 hours running and/or riding a week, I'd certainly improve much more than 3 minutes on the bike leg and marathon.
Halfway through my "I don't have to swim!" happy dance, I thought What about Janelle?
My friend Janelle is a super swimmer, a real fishie. Her impeccable form, energetic drive, ability to recognize a problem with a stroke and most importantly, coach someone (namely, me!) to effectively correct it made it worth my while to schlep to the pool a couple times a week last fall. Certainly she would understand my OS reasoning for not swimming and see me again in April when I would start my In-Season and being swimming again. However, she is pregnant--due TODAY. I knew I wouldn't have my personal swim coach for a few months after her labor and delivery. So I made the time investment to swim with her at least 1-2 times a week despite my loathing of the pool.
She definitely made it worth my time with her coaching. My head position, kick, and catch all improved. It was also incredible to see her maintain her form and speed as her belly grew larger. I thought with all my stroke improvements I could catch her by the beginning of her 3rd trimester. No such luck. She was the fastest swimmer at Masters until about a month ago she stopped doing flip-turns, back stroke, and butterfly.
"The gut's too big", she said.
So finally on the day before she was do to have her baby, Janelle and I swam our last swim together for a while. Without much effort I could keep up with her. Was it because I had improved that much with my body position in the water? or because the pregnant woman I'd been chasing in the pool for the last 5 months has double the resistance in the water than me?
Her belly was so big on her otherwise normal sized frame that it didn't even look real--like someone had hung a prosthetic pregnant gut on her. I told her at that size she'd be awesome to draft behind.
While I'm not missing the pool, I'm certainly missing my dear friend and hoping for a swift and uncomplicated delivery and recovery. I'll likely keep swimming once a week so as not to forget all my lessons learned. For the rest of the time, I be doing my "I don't have to swim" happy dance.