I try to swim two to four times a week at the local health club. It’s always a challenge, not because I don’t have the time but because the time I have doesn’t always coincide with the time available at the pool.
I know this sounds convoluted. But as a lap swimmer, I have to sign up for a certain time slot. (It’s like making any other appointment: the doctor, the dentist, the hair staylist.) And I get to swim for thirty minutes, because some other lapper has signed up for the time slot after mine.
I really do treat the half hour appointment as just that. I put it in my calendar and I prep my gear the night before. I arrive early to shower and be ready to jump in the pool. And . . . I’m always happy when the person after me doesn’t’ show up, because this means I can keep swimming.
All this structure makes me think that my community needs more swimming pools. The one I frequent also has swim teams, water aerobics, lessons for students of all ages, and family night. So it makes it more difficult for lappers to reserve a lap lane for thirty minutes when there are so many blackout times as they compete with the other water activities.
I don’t have a solution, other than hoping the club I attend will see the need and somehow in the future plan for a second pool. Otherwise, the situation will deteriorate, and perhaps I shall forego swimming. It’s not the solution I’d choose.
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