It's Friday afternoon and it's my monthly swim test day. The pool's pretty deserted. A few retirees taking in their afternoon laps. A lifeguard or two day dreaming of something far from the pool deck. Scattered pull buoys and flippers spread around to indicate some activity had taken place... just not anytime recently. The excitement in the pool is as amped up as the cool sounds of the easy listening radio station playing faintly in the distance.
I don my swim cap, get the goggles lined up, and push off through the water. The sloshing of the water has become one of my favourite sounds as my time in the pool has become far more meditational than excruciating. It used to be painful. Three years ago I would flail around, dragging my butt through the water and praying that when the time came to actually race, I wouldn't drown. Now, I love it. I am stronger, more comfortable, and dare I say swimming has become a strength. I am not fast, I mean I still don't kick at all (that's a whole different struggle), but I am fast...er.
My test Friday was a time test to swim 1000 metres. 20 laps. The first few laps feel great. Long strokes, big pull with each arm and the rhythm starts to kick in. I see the same things each lap as I lift my head to breathe. 2 strokes...the water slide...3 strokes...a pile of kick boards...3 strokes...the 1.7 mtr depth sign...3 strokes...the bulletin board with the little kid swim lesson pictures on it...3 strokes...the bottom of the green tube slide that flings people in the deep end from 5 feet above the surface...3 strokes...end of the pool... tuck, push off, repeat. I have seen these same things for weeks and it makes me smile to see them each lap. The consistency feels great. After 20 trips back and forth, I click my watch and the 19:54 brings a bigger smile to my face. Fastest 1000m yet where I didn't feel like I was gong to die!
I hop in the sauna as a little reward. Hot air. Super humid. I love this place! The muscles start to relax and I start to relax. A little boy walks by the sauna window. Another skips along behind him, snorkle dangling off a rediculously large diving mask. Then another... and another. Kids are now pouring out passed the sauna door. I poke my head out the door and there are literally hundreds of elementary school kids streaming out of the locker rooms. Like a salmon going up stream I fight through the sea of swim trunks and pass around the googley faces of giddy 3rd graders. The showers are no better as the wall of kids only briefly pause under the shower heads, just long enough to bypass the life guards checking for "wet/clean" kids. It is truly a sight and after about 10 minutes the roar of childish excitement has moved to the pool.
I initially wrote this three weeks ago. And, even after my close call with the wall of children, I have successfully repeated this three weeks in a row. Note to self: Friday at 1:30.... they show up :)
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