Painterly blue swimming goggles beside a small red flag on rippled wet sand near the sea.

Original artwork, not a still

Outside Magazine, 13 April 2009

Lewis Gordon Pugh

You must not dither – swim like you’re running through a minefield.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker demands decisive movement by comparing swimming to running through a minefield. The dangerous image makes hesitation sound especially costly. Read as forceful encouragement, the line uses an extreme comparison to urge commitment; it is not a literal explanation of how to cross such terrain.

Context reviewed

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