Every four years, when the Olympics roll around, many people watch the swimming events and assume that the sport is easy. They see athletes such as Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky gliding through the pool gracefully and, to the untrained eye, effortlessly. However, few people really know just what it takes to come even close to the level of skill of a Ledecky or Phelps. For the truth is, that it takes years of hard training and dedication in and out of the water to achieve even a morsel of success that they have. In this essay, then, closely examining the real training process of an Olympic swimmer as compared to what spectators think it to be will show that swimming is one of, if not the most, challenging and competitive sports out
