Swimming is not a very social sport for me. Aside from the intermittent chats about the pool temperature or water taste with my lane partner while calming my speeding heart rate, I find that most swimmers are intent on the workout. Get in, get out. And that’s ok, because now I appreciate swimming for the Zen. It has proven itself as a remarkable time for meditation while I concentrate on my breathing pattern and try to remember my lap count. (Sometimes keeping count to four can be very difficult.)
I started lap swimming a year ago to put a new spin in my work out regimen and to fully appreciate the work out that my water polo playing daughter lives every day. She jumped in the water with me one day and gave me a few pointers, taught me the importance of alternate breathing, and TRIED to teach me a flip turn. Mostly she swam circles around me, but she helped me keep a straight line. (I failed at the flip turn, and I’m ok with my failure. Especially after her hottie lifeguard friend told me flip turns were over rated.) What I have learned to love about lap swimming is the flexibility of schedule at my pool: morning, mid-day, evening, weekends. I know that I am also getting a full body workout and a killer aerobic one as well, with little joint stress.
So last weekend, off to college went the water polo player. I’m super excited for her and will miss her everyday. Last night while I was swimming my laps I had a little epiphany that swimming keeps her and I connected in a way that I never realized. We are both doing our laps and feeling the power of our arms and legs propelling us through the water. Although she is fast and I swim with fins, and we are separated by two hours of traffic-less freeway, we are keeping our bodies strong. Does she think about me when swimming her laps? I doubt it, but I’m thankful for her sharing and teaching me a little about her world.
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