3000 Fly for Time: What one impossible swim can teach about suffering, growth, and the human spirit.

From 2008 to 2014, I had the privilege of serving as Head Coach of Chesapeake Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC), a small but mighty USA Swimming team tucked away in Southern Maryland. We had about 90 swimmers, not a powerhouse program by any means, but what we lacked in numbers, we made up for in heart, grit, and curiosity.

For some context, and context is everything, as you’ll see, in 2008, the year I took over, we had only three swimmers with “AA” USA Swimming time standards or faster. Three. I know this because that was the standard to qualify for the Maryland LSC short course champs. My first as Head Coach and we had three swimmers.

We were small, but hungry. Over those years, we experienced a lot of firsts, breakthrough swims, new training milestones, and a fair share of growing pains. But one day stands out above all the rest.

It was the day my senior group swam a 3000-meter butterfly, long course, for time... and every single one of them finished full stroke. No single-arm. No cheating. Just pure, relentless fly.

“Why would you do that?”

I can already hear the questions:

Fair questions.

No one got hurt. No shoulders were sacrificed. Was it hard? Of course. Did it hurt? Absolutely. Was that a bad thing? Not at all.

In fact, I think we need to rethink our relationship with pain and suffering, especially when it comes to young people.

We live in a world that tells kids to avoid discomfort at all costs. To quit when things get hard, to “listen to your body” before they’ve even tested their spirit. But growth doesn’t happen in comfort. Growth requires resistance.

Suffering isn’t the enemy. It’s the forge.

Lesson One: Context Is Everything

I always preface this story when I tell it to swimmers with a disclaimer: I haven’t repeated this set since, and we are not going to do it today;-).

And if you’re reading this thinking, “That sounds fun. I’ll try it with my group,” please don’t.

This set wasn’t some macho stunt or random “tough guy” challenge I saw online. It came from months of planning, culture-building, and context.

We live in the golden age of content, drills, workouts, “top 10 endurance builders” and all of it should come with a warning label:

Pulling something out of context can be dangerous. A set might look insane on paper, but within the right progression, it might make perfect sense.

A “great set” doesn’t make swimmers great. Consistency does. Discipline does. Belief does.

Context gives meaning to the work.

Lesson Two: It’s About More Than Physiology

Physiologically speaking, there’s nothing magical about swimming 3000 meters of fly. The aerobic benefit could’ve been achieved with other strokes or shorter sets.

So why do it?

Because this wasn’t about building bodies; it was about building spirit and stretching the mind.

The Story Behind the Set

When I became Head Coach in 2008, I was still figuring things out. I didn’t have a mentor yet. That changed when Coach Casey Brandt joined us after coaching at AGUA in New York under Coach Brian Brown. He became my first real coaching influence not by giving me answers, but by teaching me to find my own.

Around the same time, Chuck Batchelor and his Bluefish Swim Club came down to train at our brand-new 50-meter pool at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. They were a powerhouse team, and I got to watch them train up close.

On their last day, I walked out to the pool deck after practice and saw “12,000 IM for time” written on the board.

“Did they actually do that?” I asked Casey. He nodded. “Yep.”

That moment stuck with me. I wasn’t thinking, why would they do that? I was thinking, how?

How do you get a group of athletes to that level, not just physically, but mentally and culturally?

That question became my mission.

At the time, CBAC wasn’t known for fast swimming. The coach before me had even said there could never be real fast swimming in Southern Maryland. I was determined to prove him wrong.

After watching Bluefish, I knew what was possible. If they could build it, so could we, in our own way.

The Day It Happened

We spent nearly a year building toward that test. Training each stroke progressively, developing aerobic capacity, technical consistency, and mental toughness.

When the day came, I gave one of my best pre-practice speeches. I told them there’d be a “prize” for anyone who finished full stroke. (The prize wasn’t the point — belief was.)

When I wrote “3000 FLY for Time” on the whiteboard, I could see the shock ripple through the group. Some stared in disbelief. Some laughed nervously. A few looked like they might cry.

And then… we started.

What followed was one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever witnessed on a pool deck. Stroke after stroke, minute after minute, no one quit.

The swimmer who impressed me most was Mairyn Branaman, a true sprinter. For context, her 100 fly was 75 yards of magic followed by 25 of survival. If anyone was going to crack, it was her.

But she didn’t.

She just kept going. Steady, strong, unrelenting. And because she didn’t break, no one else did either.

That’s the power of shared suffering: when one person holds the line, it lifts everyone.

All 16 swimmers finished. Full stroke. 3000 meters of pure will.

Suffering as a Teacher

That set wasn’t really about swimming. It was about life.

In Stoic philosophy, suffering is a form of strength training for the soul. Seneca wrote, “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” The Stoics believed we should not seek comfort but use challenge as our greatest teacher.

In Christian tradition, suffering takes on sacred meaning, not as punishment, but as a path to growth, empathy, and redemption. “We rejoice in our sufferings,” Paul wrote, “because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3–4)

And in Buddhism, suffering (dukkha) is understood as a universal truth of life. To suffer is not to fail, but to awaken. The key is not to escape pain, but to meet it with awareness and compassion.

All three agree on one point:

Why This Matters for Young People

In a world obsessed with comfort, convenience, and instant results, suffering is often painted as something to avoid. But when we protect young people from every form of pain, we also rob them of the opportunity to build strength, real, internal, earned strength.

Enduring hard things teaches perspective. It builds humility, empathy, and confidence. It’s not about glorifying pain; it’s about understanding its purpose.

Pain is not punishment. It’s instruction.

The Real Takeaway

That day, my swimmers didn’t just build endurance, they built belief.

They learned that greatness can come from anywhere, even a small-town pool. If you plan, believe, and stay committed long enough to see it through. They did something that many think is impossible.

That’s what the 3000 Fly was really about. Not the meters, not the time, not the stroke. It was about the will to keep going when every fiber of your being is telling you to stop, and the quiet joy that comes from discovering you can.

Notes:

• Chuck's 3000IM for time was 4x(5x200IM, 1000IM, 10x100IM). Had I known that this story would have never happened. I just assumed they went 3000FL, 3000BA, 3000BR, 3000FR...

• Within the group of athletes that completed the 3000FL came CBAC's first ever Olympic Trials qualifier.

• The club went from 3 "AA" swimmers to swimmers representing the club at US Olympic Team Trials, Open Water Nationals, Nationals, Junior Nationals, and Arena Pro series meets.

• Within that group of athletes four ladies, (including Mairyn) set a Maryland LSC relay record in the 4x100 FR LCM.