Swimming for Sanity

With the ski season coming to an end, I’ve begun the transition to my other life-long sport — swimming!

I have a membership to Stonegate Country Club which is really close to where I live. They are situated on a lake and have tennis courts, sailboats, sports fields, and a heated lap pool!

I headed over there last night after returning home from school for a swim. It’s been about 9 months since I’ve been swimming, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but as I jumped in and began that first lap, I was in heaven. The sun was shining in a beautiful blue sky, the water was warm and sparkled in the sunlight, and when I stopped to transition from swimming to kicking I had a view of the lake and all the beautiful houses situated around the lake. It’s been years since I’ve been able to swim in an outdoor lap pool (the past few years I’ve been forced to get my swim-fix in the dungeon of a swimming pool of my old gym) and I immediately recalled happy memories from my days as an undergraduate at Pomona College. I was a lifeguard all 4 years of undergrad, so I spent a great deal of time at the school’s outdoor lap pools.

Needless to say, I was in heaven swimming last night; so much so that I swam more last night than I have in the past 8 years (when I stopped competing). Swimming is like meditation for me — clears my head, refocuses my energy, and makes me feel incredible. I left, reluctantly, to work on an assignment that was due today, but decided I would return again the next morning for a sunrise swim.

Despite the temperature being in the upper 40s this morning, I made my way over to the pool and got in another amazing swim. I could see myself spending an absurd amount of time at that pool now that I know how much I enjoy swimming there.