all fOr the Love of wateR.

The Swimmer and Swimming have some similarites.

• Both main characters in the stories use their love for water and their ability to swim as a way to escape.
• They both swim distances.
• Both stories deal with seasons. In "The Swimmer" throughout the story, as he was swimming the seasons changed which effected his swimming. In "Swimming" the couple would visit Lake Juliet only in the summer, which is when everything takes place.

One theme for "Swimming" i feel could be, you cant teach an old dog new tricks (when he was trying to teach his wife to swim at the very end/ when Juliet tried to kiss him/and the fact that his body did not match with his facial features and feelings ).

One theme for "The Swimmer" could be mind over matter. . No matter how many pools he had to go through or as many times as he couldnt for some reason he never gave up.

I must say I enjoyed "Swimming" much more then the first story. I feel it was more of a slow paced story that just went with the flow rather then "The Swimmer" which i feel was quick and upbeat. The other story was calming and comedical that went with the eldery couple and his sarcastic personality.

Both stories use simialr ideas in totally different ways. Both main charactes have love for the water and swimming (the old man actually hated the water until his 40's). They express theyre love in different ways, from the first story he competes and proves his devotion tothe sport while the old man proves himself by trying to give his expertice to others. The younger boy is more of a quick swimmer while the old man swims for lesiure (perhaps it has something to do with thefact that he's 72 years old).