Swimming

I'm a little surprised that it took me a year to start swimming again. Last June when I moved back to Texas the first thing I did was purchase the POA pool membership. My mistake was signing up before I actually saw the pool, which turned out to be about the size many folks around here have in their back yards, suitable mostly for kids splashing around. I kept thinking I'd give it a try at some point, but I never did.

One thing I've missed since the move is swimming. Our condo actually had two pools: one enormous resort size pool outdoors, complete with a separate section just for lap swimming; and another slightly smaller facility indoors, with a sizable pool for families and exercise classes, and again a separate pool just for lap swimmers. This meant I could swim year round, which I did with great regularity, several times a week.

With such dedication you might think I was a great swimmer, but I'm not, and I'm not just being modest. When I was a child my Mom finally resorted to sending me for lessons at the local Y, where I learned all the basics, and also that swimming without a suit is really not such a bad thing. Later, when I went off to scout camp, my skills turned out to be somewhat deficient, and for a time I reverted to non-swimmer status. But I soon gained sufficient proficiency to be classified a swimmer, something I wanted primarily so I could go out canoeing.  Of course, activities at scout camp, especially in Texas, revolved around the pool and waterfront, and eventually, when I returned as a member of the camp staff, I qualified as a Scout Life Guard -- again, something I needed to do so that I could work at the waterfront.

With me swimming has always been a means to an end. I've managed to be just good enough, but never really proficient, nor fast. I know all the basic strokes, but none really well. And my crawl is so clumsy and inefficient that it tires me out much too quickly for sustained exercise. I realize I should try to improve, and perhaps one day I will. Since I began swimming for exercise a few years ago, I've developed a fairly satisfactory backstroke, which I rotate with a breaststroke and sidestroke. All of these are essentially resting strokes, so I am able to swim for at least a half hour, which gives me a pretty decent session.

Another thing I always enjoyed about swimming, is the water, a much more pleasant exercise environment than sweating in a gym or even walking in the heat or cold. So this summer I decided to check out the community pool, and it turned out to be much better that the POA alternative. Yes, there are lots of kids, but at least two lanes are always roped off for lap swimmers, and although sometimes I have to share a lane (which can be a dangerous proposition with me), I've been able to swim regularly again, twice a week, since the pool opened. I think it makes a difference, and it's a nice break from walking in the Texas heat.