I have been joining my swim club at the indoor pool for three weeks now. It mostly feels wonderful. It is my big social event of the week, and it feels great to catch up with friends. On Saturday I was so keen to get going that I wore my mask right into the pool! Luckily I realized it before putting my face in.
I love getting feedback on my strokes. I am frustrated with how tired I am afterwards. It has been ages since I needed a nap after practice, but I’m back to napping. I am a little frustrated that I am the fastest person in my lane, and I need to wait for the slower people because we can’t pass for COVID reasons. A swimming friend from the UK shared this image today after her first swim in a year. I feel that way too:
We have all forgotten so much – technique, lane etiquette, and occasionally how to stay apart safely. Some of our muscles and organs seem to have forgotten how to worksuspect that will be a challenge for many sports going forward, assuming we get to keep doing sports indoors or in groups.
In anticipation of yet another lockdown – and because open water season is almost upon us – I met up with a couple of friends on Sunday to see if we could get into the river. Sadly, the open water was only knee deep and none of us had remembered to bring an ice chipper. Aimee was the only one who bothered to get in.
Still, it was nice to get together and compare notes about how different pools and clubs are managing through COVID restrictions. We will try again next weekend. Hopefully we will still feel safe standing or swimming two metres apart with no masks.
