splish splash
Guilted by a few friends of mine, who are all in training for various triathalons, I decided to give swimming a try. I didn’t learn how to swim until I was 13 when my mom enrolled the two of us for swimming lessons at the local public high school. She took the beginning adult course and I took the beginning children’s course. I nearly drowned that summer when the instructor forced us to all tread water in the big pool for 2 minutes. I got about 1 minute of treading before I started to sink and my head started to slip under the water. The instructor was about to dive in when I somehow got myself onto my back and floated towards the edge of the pool. After that incident, my swimming lessons ceased.
Now, over a decade later, I’ve decided to brace the mockery of the 80 year olds who swim at the local Y daily, and have done so every day of their lives, to join them in their swimming brigade, two lanes over in what is known as the slow lane. I donned my suit and hopped into the 4 foot deep water, slightly warmed by the few bodies swimming beside me- a Japanese man who looked to be in his late fourties, and a young woman in her 30s who eventually moved to the medium lane.
Four laps later (100m) I hopped out of the pool, exhausted but triumphant. I had managed to freestyle my way back into the swimming world (with a few breaks and a few restful backstrokes in between) where I hope to stay for the next few years (or until my trial membership expires in 39 days).
