For those who do not know much about my past, I was a very dedicated swimmer in my early years. I made my National Debut at a meet in St. Louis in 2001 as a 10 year old, where I won medals in almost all of my races. Until the age of 14, it was hard for me to find competition my age that truly challenged me in Nebraska. At one point in my career I travelled so much to get to practice, that I actually spent more time in the car than I did in the pool. It was truly my dream to have swimming define my life and to compete in the Olympics.
But, that all got to my head and I was cocky. God humbled me in a way I never saw coming. During High School I played football in addition to swimming, and I found myself gaining muscle mass the summer before my sophomore year of high school. I was adding protein to my diet and lifting weights, bulking up to become "Bigger, Faster, Stronger". In all, from May to August the summer before my sophomore year, my weight changed from a slender 160 pounds to a bulky 245 pounds. My lifts almost all doubled in amount, and I could bench more than my own weight. I took 3 and a half months off of swimming during football season, the first time I had gone more than a couple weeks without rigorous pool workouts in 8 years.
(This is my school picture from my freshman year, to give you all some perspective.)
By the time it came back to being swim season, the damage was almost irreversible. The change in exercise type however caused an immediate change in my physique. For the first several weeks I lost between 5 and 10 pounds a week, about 1 pound for every 2 hours I spent in the pool, until my weight was down to 200 pounds just before Christmas, which would be as low as it would ever get again. At this point my dream was gone, but I did not realize it. I continued to swim through high school and was even named the captain my senior year. It was not until late in the season that year that I started to realize that my swimming career was coming to an end. I had always thought that I would swim in college, and while that was still an option, I knew my attachment to my past career was at an unhealthy level.
It was after this realization that God gave me a little reward. I had been struggling as far as qualifying times for the state meet. But going into the conference meet I was finally at peace with what I had learned from my experience. I came out and in my final race put out my best performance of my career to that point. I ended up snagging the final spot in the state meet 2 weeks away, and would be competing in an individual race there for the first time in my career.
When I arrived at the state meet I discovered who I would be swimming next to. It was one of my childhood rivals, who went on to swim at a Division I college. But in that moment I was ecstatic. The race came and I mounted the block and raced. I finished 20th overall, moving past 4 others, and posting my lifetime fastest time. I also finished only .01 of a second behind my rival right next to me. To this day I remember finishing that race, looking at the times, getting out of the pool and shaking hands with him. Capping my career with a handshake from a longtime rival, and the conversation that followed. We immediately proceeded to the cool down pool, talking about our careers and the past.
At that moment I realized all that God had done in my life through swimming. All the people I met and all the lessons He taught me. For the next 5 minutes I recounted all that I could muster sharing my story and what God has done with my life to that rival. I am sure he thought it was odd, but I still keep in touch with him. He has since that day begun his own relationship with God. But through all of it, I cannot help but think of all the pieces that came together to help me have that conversation.
Looking back on my career, I have records, achievements, stories, and more medals and ribbons than anyone would ever want to count. But none of it matters at all. I have something that is way better than any ribbon could ever be. I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and salvation through the sacrifice He made on the cross. When I consider "giving up", I think of quitting and consider it a bad thing. But what changed my life was realizing that there was something better than what I was living for in my life, and I needed to give up the materialistic life I was living to achieve that full potential in my life.
Like always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me.
Thanks for Reading!
Logan Cullison
PS - I still swim laps on my own, and will help out anyone that wants pointers in the water.
PPS - I also volunteer coach at Omaha Central. Good Luck to both the Beatrice Co-op and Central at State this weekend.
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