Bowman. He set up an appointment, and they conquered Bergford’s fear together. It took a lot of work, Bergford says. They started with baby steps to get him more comfortable with the water. But because he was so committed to the process and overcoming this fear, Bergford was the ideal student who practiced in between their sessions, Bowman says. The 67-year-old Bowman, who’s taught people to swim since he was 16 and has recently taken up coaching as a career in retirement, characterizes Bergford’s condition as “more of a self-doubt than a fear of the water. For me, it was more a matter of being able to encourage him [to keep going].” He says Bergford was so self-motivated that his role largely fell to supporting his pupil and offering technique tips while Bergford obliterated his fear largely through sheer willpower. “He is one motivated guy,” Bowman says. “That’s what was really cool. It’s been fun watching him, and every time I get an email that says he’s on to his next meet, I just try to keep encouraging him.” After about three months of working together, Bowman declared Bergford ready to move on to swimming with a Masters program, a daunting prospect that Bergford says he was determined to embrace. “I knew I would talk myself out of it if I gave myself any room, so I immediately went and showed up to a Masters practice and signed up,” he recalls. “I was still at a place where I thought it would be easy to let myself off the hook.” Teetering on that edge between formerly fearful nonswimmer and fully actualized competitive swimmer was an interesting moment, Bergford says. Although he could have easily stopped there, confident that he’d learned to swim and overcome his fear, he says, “I felt like I wanted to really take it further and do more with it. Instead of just overcoming it, I wanted to decimate the fear.” And decimate it he did by competing in the Colorado LMSC’s championship meet in 2013 as his first foray into competitive swimming. “That wasn’t in any way overwhelming,” he jokes. But he followed through and got up on the blocks. “I started there, and I just kept rolling with it,” he says. In the six years since, he’s competed in dozens of meets and participated in several of U.S. Masters Swimming’s national championships. He’s earned two individual Top 10 times. He says competing helps keep him honest with his training and on track with achieving his long-term goal of winning a national championship. “I figure I have until I’m about 105 or so to get that done,” he says. “I don’t necessarily know even why [I set that goal], but when I think about it, it gets me pretty fired up. My shorter-term goals are to continue learning and continue growing” and to inspire others to be their best selves. FINDING YOUR OWN STRENGTH Bergford hopes his story of overcoming a crippling fear and becoming a competitive Masters swimmer inspires others to tackle whatever obstacles are present in their lives. In addition to his dog training businesses and his writing (he’s the author of “Transformational Dog Training: Bring out the Best in Your Dog by Bringing out the Best in Yourself”), he’s opened a coaching and consulting service to help others identify roadblocks in their personal and business lives and find creative, sustainable ways around them. Colorado Masters Swimming member Brian Bergford was inspired to begin swimming by Michael Phelps’s performance at the 2008 Olympics. Colorado Masters Swimming member Brian Bergford participated in his first swim meet in 2013 and dozens more since then. I knew I would talk myself out of [joining a Masters program] if I gave myself any room, so I immediately went and showed up to a Masters practice and signed up. I was still at a place where I thought it would be easy to let myself off the hook. I felt like I wanted to really take it further and do more with it. Instead of just overcoming it, I wanted to decimate the fear. —BRIAN BERGFORD, COLORADO MASTERS SWIMMING 21 ju l y- au gu st 20 19