Category: swimming

An indoor hotel pool with kids and adults playing and others in chairs beside it. Catherine’s new intention for 2026: more swimming with kids
family · fitness · holidays · season transitions · swimming

Catherine’s new intention for 2026: more swimming with kids

catherine w1 Comment

I rang in the New Year (technically, the day after) in a way I heartily recommend: swimming with a friend and her toddler! My friend Rachel and I took her daughter Teagan to a local hotel pool that offers day passes. It’s pretty cold here in New England, and the hotel indoor pool offers a respite from freezing cold temperatures outside and cramped play spaces inside.

When we got there on Friday, there were about five kids in the pool horsing around, with a group of fully-clothed parents lounging and scrolling on their phones. We went into the locker room to change into bathing suits and headed into the relatively warm water.

Teagan isn’t a swimmer yet, being a few weeks shy of 3 years old, but she loved the water, and she loved playing with us. Favorite activities included:

  • Jumping from the side of the pool into the waiting arms of Rachel or me;
  • Bring hurled through the air (well, sort of) between Rachel and me in the pool, making a big splash as she landed;
  • being swirled in a circular motion, clockwise or counter-clockwise (she didn’t express a preference) while squealing, laughing and splashing;
  • blowing bubbles in the water;
  • watching us blow bubbles in the water;
  • pretend/sort-of-actual swimming, with a bit of assistance;
  • bobbing up and down, kicking her feet but not making any forward progress (which bothered her not a whit)
  • being wrapped up in multiple towels, including my rainbow beach towel.

I got a decent upper body workout, lifting, holding, and catching her, as well as working on my high-speed circular swirling technique. And it was very good for my heart. And soul…

Here’s a picture of them enjoying the pool. I was the photographer this time. I expect my participation to be documented in future pool explorations (of which I hope the next is soon).

Teagan (on left) and Rachel (on right). Both very happy.
Teagan (on left) and Rachel (on right). Both very happy.

When my youngest nephew Gray (now 20) was born I looked after his two older siblings (5 and almost 3) for the first few weeks while my sister was getting settled in with a new baby. Our most joyful outings were to the pool– there no one was sad or grumpy or tired or bored. We splashed and played and hung out and ate snacks and enjoyed the water and each other. Honestly, is there anything better?

This winter season, if you’re feeling in need of a pick-me-up, borrow a kid or a friend or take yourself to a pool. Splash around. Do a handstand underwater. See how long you can hold your breath. Dive for random objects thrown to the bottom. Oh, and don’t forget to bring snacks and fluffy towels, too.

fitness · sexism · swimming

Stay in Your Lane!

Diane HarperLeave a comment

No this is not a rant about my provincial government and its overreach into municipal affairs, especially in ways that make it less safe for people using active transport such as walking or cycling. Sam Covered that on Monday.

It’s a rant about the fact that far too many men* assume they should be in faster swim lanes and the women** who are obviously much faster assume their place is in a slower lane.

To be clear, I don’t mean the people who miscalculate their speed and move quickly to the correct lane. I’m also not talking about the people who take advantage of empty lanes but move when faster or slower people arrive.

It’s also important to note that most public pools, at least, have signage for fast, medium, slow and leisure lanes. Many also provide instructions on which direction to swim when sharing a lane, how to pass safely, and a reminder to assess your speed against other swimmers and move up or down a lane if you are passing (or being passed) regularly.

It’s not hard to figure out whether you are where you should be, if you are willing to be honest about your abilities.

Occasionally lifeguards will even intervene to sort it out; in my training, this was considered one of the most unpleasant public relations activities because of the egos involved.

Intervention can be necessary because being in the wrong lane makes swimming more dangerous and prone to crashes as faster swimmers try to navigate around the slower ones.

At best, it sometimes minimizes conflicts between the people who are there for a steady workout and those who like to sprint past, only to stand at the end of the lane, blocking space so other swimmers can’t do efficient turns. Or those that see no need to move to a slower lane when working on drills or slower strokes.

This seems to be a common phenomenon. I see it regularly while lifeguarding or lane swimming, and it often arises as a concern in large swimming forums I belong to.

Interestingly, it is much less of an issue in swim club practices – probably because coaches are ruthless about sorting swimmers into the correct lanes. The women I know who refuse to cede the lane to slower men are almost always club swimmers.

My plea to women swimmers is to acknowledge your power and claim your lane. And to those who seem to think those swimmers don’t deserve the space: stay in your lane.

A bus lane swim in a gloriously large pool. Image is from https://outdoorswimmer.com/coach/how-to-have-a-happy-public-lane-swim/

*not all men, but almost always men

**not all women, but almost always women

inclusiveness · swimming

I Got to Use My Powers for Good!

Diane Harper

Back in 2022, I mused about using my power for good by becoming a lifeguard and giving back to the sport I love so much.

Since I started working almost a year ago, I have taken great pleasure in teaching recent immigrants who are five times more likely than people born in Canada to be non-swimmers. I have also had the joy of lifeguarding for a day at the pool for women who are normally excluded from swimming because beaches and pools are mixed gender.

This week was extra special. In the summer, a teen drowned at one of the city’s beaches. Teachers at their high school responded by getting a Jumpstart grant so that girls who had never learned to swim could take female-only lessons. They even bought a big bin full of modest swimwear and sports hijabs to be used by anyone who wanted them.

We blocked all the windows for privacy and I had the pleasure of teaching 20 teen girls to put their heads under water, jump in (a couple even tried it in the deep end), float, glide, and try some basic strokes.

The girls were great – smiling, overcoming their fears and helping each other. The teachers were wonderful too. I really appreciated that both got into the water and worked with students so that a few were able to swim most of the width of the pool by the end of class.

Not “my” girls. These young women wearing modest swimsuits and floating peacefully in a bright blue swimming pool are from a Nike modest swimwear ad campaign found on models.com. The photographer is Paola Kudaki.

It was the perfect way to hit 225 on my 225 workouts in 2025 goal.

Sadly, this was only a substitute assignment for me because the regular teacher was sick. I have put my name in to be called first if she needs to be away again, and offered to teach any future sessions that might be offered.

fitness · swimming

Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage

Diane Harper1 Comment

Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage is a group I would like to join. Sadly, the group works in Cape Cod, so I can’t actually join, but how awesome is their mission statement from their website?

In 2017, Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, OLAUG, was formed. We have been cleaning up ponds on Cape Cod from Falmouth to Chatham ever since. Gathering small teams of swimmers, ages 65 to 85, we sweep along the shallows, diving down to pick up beer cans, golf balls, fishing lures, waterlogged dog toys, hats, jackets, shoes, and occasionally a tire, cell phone or box of spent fireworks.

Whatever we heave up from the bottom, we hand to the Garbage Collector who paddles a canoe or kayak. Our affection and respect for the fish, turtles, and plants that live in the ponds are what motivates us. Well, that and cookies.

Five women stand in thigh deep water holding a toilet they have pulled out of the water. They all have huge smiles and are obviously very pleased with their “catch”. Photo is from the OLAUG Facebook page.

I heard a couple of the members interviewed a few weeks ago and was impressed with the level of fitness required.

Swimmers, without fins, need to be:

  • able to swim ½ mile freestyle in 30 minutes or less
  • able to swim a mile
  • comfortable spending 1.5 hours in the water, with a lot of treading water
  • comfortable and proficient swimming with mask and snorkel
  • comfortable diving down 6-9 feet to retrieve trash.

Kayakers need to be able to:

  • maneuver easily without knocking into swimmers
  • keep your kayak steady while receiving sometimes heavy trash on one side from a swimmer
  • keep your kayak steady in windy conditions
  • keep track of swimmers and tell them if they are getting too far away
  • paddle while a tired or injured swimmer hangs onto the bow
  • right themself or get safely to shore should they capsize.

There are tryouts to ensure everyone can meet the standard.

I sometimes pick up underwater trash when I’m swimming, and I follow various organizations who clean up ocean plastics, or rescue animals snared in fishing gear or other materials, so I have an extra appreciation for the work these women are doing.

The organization is small but starting to grow in new locations. If someone were to open a chapter in the Ottawa area, I would love to join.

A line of women, most wearing red shirts, stands on a sandy beach in front of a collection of trash that probably came from the water in the background.
fall · fitness · swimming

Sam’s swimming dreams

Sam B2 Comments

Lately, I’ve been missing New Zealand, St Clair beach, and the swimming pool, in particular.

Exploring St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool

But I’ve also been thinking about swimming in Iceland!

Check out this beautiful outdoor pool. The Seljavallalaug swimming pool is one of the oldest swimming pools in Iceland.

Photo by Sigurdur Fjalar Jonsson on Unsplash

But probably I should just get myself to the local Y, join,  and go swimming once or twice a week. 

That was part of my fall fitness plan. Confession: I got busy and it hasn’t happened yet. 

Stay tuned. 

eating · fitness · food · habits · intuitive eating · nutrition · swimming

Noticing What I Eat

Diane Harper

Now that I’m back at the pool regularly, I’m feeling like my body isn’t fitting well into my swimsuit. Normally this doesn’t bother me, but I have a new swimsuit, and new suits are always very tight.

Coincidentally, I have been following a nutritionist who writes about the nutritional contents of many different foods and encourages people to eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruits each day. She doesn’t worry about exact measurements for servings – eyeballing, filling half your plate with vegetables, measuring by using your hand or fist are all valid. Eating a variety of things will probably be just fine for overall nutrition. No foods are off-limits. I find her nonjudgmental approach refreshing.

An example of a plate half filled with veggies. This one is from The Institute for Family Health.

So, as part of my fall routine, I’m trying to be more mindful of what I eat. I am writing very basic notes in a paper journal. I don’t track amounts or types of food. If I had an egg salad sandwich with lettuce and tomato, and ate a peach afterwards, that’s literally all I write down.

I have considered adding a note at the end of the day about whether I felt satisfied, or whether I needed to adjust my meals going forward, but so far I haven’t bothered. I’m just focusing on noticing when I feel satiated and when I feel hungry, and whether I am drinking enough water.

It’s not quite as simple as the principles of intuitive eating that Tracy wrote about many years ago, but it is definitely inspired by that approach.

After 6 days, I have noticed that I don’t normally eat much fruit; having a piece of fruit with two meals a day feels like a lot.

I have also noticed that I don’t always eat as many vegetables as I thought I did. I eat a lot of vegetables most days, so that’s an area for further exploration. Are the servings I estimate too big? Am I underestimating the vegetables I hide in sandwiches, omelettes etc?

Have I noticed any other things? Honestly, no. And I may never notice any. My aim is to see if focusing on the positive aspects of food will help me to make some tweaks to my already fairly healthy eating habits.

If, over the next six months, my bathing suit starts to fit a little more comfortably, that would be nice. But that might have nothing to do with how I eat. It could happen because I’m getting more exercise, or getting more consistent about engaging my core, or because my bathing suit stretches out with wear, as they always do.

An old picture of me playing in the water while wearing a comfortable old swimsuit. Clearly, I am not concerned about how I look as long as I’m having fun.
fitness · swimming

Recapturing My Sense of Being a Swimmer

Diane Harper

Both the indoor pools where I work were closed for maintenance over the summer holidays, and I decided to leave the shifts at outdoor pools to students saving for tuition. I knew I had lots of other options for swimming. Did I take advantage of all of them? No, I did not.

I got to one lane swim at a nearby indoor pool. I swam in the Ottawa River and in Gatineau Park once each. I did manage to get to the Pond and to a small private lake. I never went to the NCC River House, which is lovely. I missed my chance to swim in Dow’s Lake in the first summer it has been open to swimmers in decades. In sum, although I swam some, it was nowhere near enough to feel like my usual water baby self.

This past weekend I went to the cottage with my friend Melanie. The trip was too short and we ended up almost not going for a swim because we had so many other things we wanted to do. In the end, we squeezed in one short swim in rather chilly water and it felt great.

Diane in a white swim cap and multi-coloured goggles, and Melanie in a blue towel over a blue swim shirt, are standing in front of a lake. Both are wearing huge smiles.

As I swam, I noticed that all the little improvements I had been working on have actually helped my stroke. I felt like I might be going just a tiny bit faster. Good thing too! I had my first lifeguarding shift on Tuesday morning and skills testing last tonight.

Over the summer, I had wondered about whether I wanted to continue lifeguarding. It is physically demanding, and I wasn’t sure I could keep it up with my heart murmur. But as I saw familiar faces in the pool, and watched the joyous singing during aquafit, I felt a renewed determination to keep on swimming. The water is where I belong, and I love helping other people enjoy it too.

The next time I doubt myself, I need to follow the instruction on the sign Melanie bought me for the cottage and

A wooden sign with the words “Go Jump in the Lake” in various shades of blue paint.
clothing · fitness · swimming

My Best Summer Clothing Investment

Diane Harper

There have been lots of clothing posts at FIFI: nap dresses, swim dresses, bikinis, sports bras, cycling jerseys, beach pyjamas, angry white pyjamas for Akido, among others.

This is my not-very-stylish but oh-so-practical contribution for this summer: the towel fabric changing robe.

Diane in a striped robe, with trees and her beloved pond in the background.

It has a kangaroo pocket and hood, neither of which I use. I don’t actually use the slits that allow me to reach inside, remove my swimsuit and put on clothes either.

I do wear it a lot though. I throw it on over top of my suit and ride my bike to the pond while wearing it. Often, I hop on my bike afterwards and ride to the community garden to water my plants. It has been a miserably hot and dry summer, so leaving my wet suit on helps me stay cool. I haven’t yet continued on to the grocery store before going home, but I have been tempted.

I have clearly reached the age where I no longer care even a little bit about looking ridiculous if I can be comfortable.

athletes · swimming

Swimmer Dreams

Diane Harper1 Comment

I think about lots of things when I’m swimming. I think especially about comments on or by great swimmers and how I can incorporate that into my own swims.

Me in the centre, sharing a moment with swimming greats Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky – totally not a faked image at all 😁. Original photo is from Swimmingworldmagazine.com, from February 25, 2025.

It started a few years ago when someone told me to watch a video of Katie Ledecky breathing in freestyle. She barely got her mouth out of the water.

The last few weeks have been great for ideas from the experts.

First it was former Olympian Brent Hayden, who graciously provided a detailed answer on body rotation when I asked him a question about one of his posts that I didn’t understand. Seriously cool! And helpful advice that I am incorporating into both my distance swims and sprint practices.

Then it was a commentator at the Worlds in Singapore pointing out Summer McIntosh’s heels coming slightly out of the water when she kicked, showing her excellent horizontal position in the water. My swim coach has been trying to get me to do that for ages. I teach kids to do it in swim classes. But do I do it myself? Let’s just say I have been trying, and I’m more consistent when I entertain myself by pretending I’m swimming like Summer.

Early on Saturday morning it was Katie Ledecky after her amazing 800M swim in 8:05 (I’m happy when I do 400 in under 10 minutes). In a post-swim interview, she said she has really been working on her kick and it is paying off. Me too Katie, me too. Also me – time to review those YouTube videos on how to achieve an efficient two-beat kick like hers.

After watching the swimming on Saturday, I went to the lake for a little swim with friends. They are both faster than me so I was pleased that I was able to stay close. I worked hard, but at the end I ran out of steam and finished third. Did I laughingly compare myself to Summer McIntosh as I got out of the water? Yes, yes I did.

The lake where I dream of swimming like an Olympian.
A kid swimming in blue water near a pebbled beach. by Ellena McGuinness for Unsplash. Planning for an active August
fitness · swimming · vacation

Planning for an active August

catherine w

It’s so good that summer is three whole months long. And it’s also so sad that summer is only three months long. There’s so much we all want to do, including enjoying the fruits (in the benefit way as well as the watermelon way) of the season.

I spent some of my early summer traveling for family events and conferences, and July was more local, less organized, but pretty social.

August is looking active. In a good way. Here’s what’s on my agenda:

Continuing the physical therapy I started a week or so ago for hip and glute sciatica. It’s coming along. I like the place where I get PT (except for when Doug selects the playlist), and the therapists are friendly and know what they’re doing. I trust them and am doing my exercises faithfully.

More swimming. I went to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester with friends Nina and Norah, and we are planning another jaunt in late August (and maybe I’ll squeeze in a trip in September). I’m also joining my friend Gal again at her apartment complex pool– yes, I was invited (although I’m not above self-inviting in this case). I must confess I haven’t been to Walden this summer. This situation will be rectified in August.

A group kayak jaunt in Hingham with friends. We did this a couple of years ago and had a fabulous time. It’s flat salt water with several places to explore and also to beach the boats for lunch or a quick dip.

A possible beginner sailing outing with the MIT sailing club. This is tentative pending an ok by the physical therapist. The MIT Club of Boston is sponsoring a sailing afternoon for people of all levels. I’m at the lowest level, which means I’d go out with an experienced person, learning a bit about sailing. Will report back if it works out– fingers crossed.

Canadian vacation! I’m in Ontario for a week in August, hanging out at my friend Norah’s cottage in Goderich (with more swimming in Lake Huron), and visiting Sam and Sarah in Guelph (with more quarry swimming if schedules and weather cooperate).

There may be other activities, but this looks pretty good to me. Readers, what are your plans for the most sweet and ripe month of the summer?