Hopefully when you look out your window today you will see weather that is pulling out of winter and thrusting toward spring. That’s true here in Walla Walla. We started off in the dark at a chilly 27 F but it’s clear skies this morning and we’re headed for 57! Great day to work in the garden, and maybe some folks here are thinking about summer vacations and, oh yeah, what they’ll look like in their bathing suits. Perhaps some will be motivated to start a fitness tune-up that might involve swimming.

 

I love swimming! Especially the floating part.

 

You are definitely blessed with buoyancy, 9. The Dead Man’s Float is your specialty, what they now call the horizontal back float.

 

What a dull name. Dead Man’s Float is much more visual.

 

I agree, Lily. Maybe the change has to do with sensitivities some may have to the word Dead, or possibly the word Man. 9, you can also bob like a cork from the waist up, especially in salt water.

 

Remember that time when we were on the boats over at Mystery Bay when I tricked the grown-ups? The boats were tied up to the dock and rafted out. Some of us kids were swimming. I thought it was funny to do my bob like a cork float and yell “My feet are touching the bottom!” to all the parents who were having cocktails in the cockpits. The dads all ran to look over the side to see if they were going to go aground!

I’m amazed you didn’t get in trouble for that.

 

Maybe the dads were embarrassed that they fell for it so no one wanted to bring it up?

 

Floating is definitely part of swimming but there is more to it than that.

 

This conversation gives me the shivers. It reminds me of water polo in P. E. The teacher makes us play this every single year and the mean girl who plays goalie always tries to drown me whether I’m on the opposing team or not. Plus, being in the pool ruins my hair for the rest of the day.

 

Swimming requires that kind of sacrifice when you have waist-length hair that’s set on sponge curlers every two nights.

 

Not to mention what it does to my mascara.

 

It’s a much easier setup for me now- -short hair that easily fits under a cap, and I wear makeup so seldom I practically have to re-learn how to apply it when I try.

Setting the joys and traumas of childhood swimming aside, this activity is now part of my lifestyle. Remember how folks started getting more exercise when COVID was in full force and there wasn’t much to do with all that isolation? First I started walking a whole bunch. When social distancing and masking restrictions eased in 2021 I bought a season pass at Veterans Memorial Pool, the city’s 50-meter outdoor facility.

I had two old one-piece suits, one of which was pilling. The other had assumed the texture of concrete after aging in the dresser for so long and the leg openings had stretched mysteriously and irrevocably wide.

Time to buy a new suit. At Big 5 Sporting Goods I picked out a size 34 Speedo, smaller than what  I’d worn in the past but I figured it would work since I was down 15 pounds from what I had been in the 1990s. The hitch: I couldn’t try it on at Big 5 because COVID policy didn’t allow purchasers to use the dressing rooms! At home, the top of the size 34 came only half-way up my ribs. I returned that one for a 36- -still too short. By the time I returned that one for my historic size of 38 I’d learned that torso length (the measuring tape goes from the top of the shoulder, between the legs and back up to the shoulder), not body circumference, is the relevant measurement for fit.

 

 

The pass at Veterans Memorial was sixty dollars. Given the four dollar single visit admission I committed to swimming at least 15 times between Memorial Day and Labor Day to amortize my investment.

 

That’s downright eccentric.

 

Baggage from a 20-year career in accounting, Lily. I made 21 swims in all. On my first attempt I swam 300 meters, a mere 3 laps and I had to stop after every length to catch my breath. I was still stopping to catch my breath after most lengths by the end of the season, but I frequently made over 1,000 meters per swim. At the height of my efforts I did a mighty 1,500!

 

 

 

For me it’s easier to do workouts in the morning. Veterans Memorial opened at 6 AM which I chose as a start time. Early in the season the air temperature was as low as the high 40s so the water felt quite warm by comparison. Later in the season and was sometimes 80+ in the morning. Toward Labor Day the 6 AM sky was noticeably darker. A time or two I could see the moon rise on a dark blue backdrop, which filled me with awe.

 

When the outdoor pool closed for the season I stopped swimming but I missed that kind of movement. July 29, 2022 I got a membership at the local YMCA and started swimming twice a week in their 25 meter pool. At first I could do six laps, and I didn’t have to catch my breath on every single length! On November first of that year I made 20 lengths (a kilometer!). My usual swim is now twice that.

Swimming appeals to me both analytically and physically. Movement, cardio, stretch, constant correction of form, designing routines and counting laps; feeling like one with the water. I swim for a little over an hour with a few 15-second breaks at predetermined intervals- -not because I need to catch my breath, but to re-set my heart rate and avoid fatigue that can compromise form.

 

I’ve made friends, too, the “regulars” for 9:30 A swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have some great poolside chats while the 8:30 water aerobics class winds up, and I’ve developed a peripheral awareness of what other swimmers are doing in the lanes next to me.

 

In December 2022 a friend gifted me a pull buoy, which floats my legs and allows me to concentrate on stroke during crawl. It’s fun to use, my opportunity to “go fast for a slow swimmer.” I’ve discovered some good chlorine removal products for skin and hair, and indulge in a post-swim sauna if time allows. The Y recently offered a swimmer’s shoulder health class where I learned lots of beneficial stretches.

 

Swimming is a big commitment but the benefits are worth it. Not only is it one of my best cardio workouts, it is low impact on joints and therapeutic for muscles and alignment.

 

A workout, a lifestyle, a culture. . .Swimming, for life.