(Photos: Above - A crowded pool in China. Right - Bonnie and her dad eating chocolate, drinking whiskey and brandishing weapons--this pic has nothing to do with anything. Below - 4 swimmers in a lane - this is the only relevant photo in this post.)By Bonnie.....
Today I was involved in a head on collision. My car is fine; my front bumper is perfect. This happened in the pool....
I went over to my big box athletic club to swim a few million laps like a good little triathlete. Fridays are water aerobic days for that location. I actually like doing my laps while they have the classes, if I can squeeze into the only lane they leave open for lap swimming use. For me, it's the best simulation to swimming in a lake that I can find. The bigger the class in more ways than one, the better. Bring on the waves! I have yet to do a triathlon or swim race at which the water was as smooth as glass.
As I was rounding the bend for who knows what lap number I was getting deep into my groove. I love to listen to the sound of the water and bubbles as they go by my ears. It's like a lovely melody to me. I pay attention to the smooth feeling of water going between my fingers with each stroke as I reach forward, as well as the water gliding over me like silk. I try not to pay attention to the murk left over from last fall still swiveling around on the bottom of the pool....
So there I was, swimming, listening, gliding when all of a sudden: BOOM! I literally ran head on into someone in my lane. I stopped in astonishment and stood up to find some guy looking at me like, "Hey, that's weird. How'd that happen?".... I gave him an incredulous look that was supposed to shout, "Friend, you need to warn someone before you go jumping into their lane!" But he didn't notice; he just took off swimming again.
Focus...
Need to focus...
I swam on and soon found that this guy was also a lane-hogger. I actually scraped my arm on the poolside trying to avoid getting my goggles poked out by his forward reach.
Patience.....
Need patience.....
Finally I stopped long enough at the lane's end for him to also have his 30-second rest between sets.
"Hi." I stated.
"Hi!" he smiled.
"Hey, next time, let me know if you'd like to get in my lane so I don't run into you again, okay?"
"Oh, sure. I thought you saw me."
"Nope." (Emphasis on the sound of the 'p'.)
Silence.
More silence.
Off I swam.
So what have we learned here today?
Waves are good and so is lap pool etiquette. Please let the other swimmers know if you would like to share a lane. Trust me, more often than not, we would be more than happy to, after all, it secretly gives us someone to race against!
