Adding Poeple to the (Pool) Party

When I got to the pool on Wednesday, it was more crowded than I had ever seen it.  There were two people in every lane and another guy had jumped in to add three to a lane as soon I arrived.  I've only been a member at this Bally for four weeks, but I'd never imagined it could get like this.  So much for being one of the few.

In lane one was a girl who was swimming hardcore laps, along with some brave soul who had jumped in with her to swim right after I got there.  The problem with the brave soul, was that when he started to "swim laps," he kept his head above water and doggy paddled down to the end of the lane.  Maybe he'd just gelled his hair?!?  This obviously didn't impress the hardcore swimmer, because she nearly ran him over with her vicious turns and strokes.  I chuckled at the spectacle.

In the lane next to them, a third guy had jumped into an already crowded lane with two more good sized guys.  He was pretty aggressive when he asked if he could join the lane, and although one of the guys in the pool tried his darnedest to hint that it probably wasn't a good idea, Mr. Aggressive got in anyway.  They proceeded to swim in an awkward circle.  I've swam in many a circle at the U of O, but those lanes we of Olympic size width and length.  Three should  not be done in these skinny, short Bally lanes.   

The third lane was pretty unremarkable, as there were only two guys swimming side-by-side like normal lap swimmers.  The last lane, also identified by a sign as the"Loafer Lane," held a small Asian woman and a girl that I recognized as one of the trainers at Bally.  Said trainer was obviously giving the woman swimming lessons, because when she asked her trainee to swim to the end, the woman looked worse than hair-gel boy in the first lane.  Needless to say, I raised my eyebrows in amazement that they would be doing this at 5:00 pm, the busiest time at the gym. 

I then reflected on how quickly I had regained my former position of Pool Snob from the U of O rec pool.  It was now I, who was rolling her eyes at the non-hardcore pool users.  I felt ashamed for 2.5 seconds and then proceeded to stand at the end of the pool, hoping a lane would open up.

Five minutes later, one of guys in the third lane got out.  If I was not such a Pool Snob, I might have waited to see if one of the guys in the three-lapper wanted to move over to swim.  BUT, I instead rationalized that if Mr. Aggressive would have waited 7 more minutes, he would have had a lane with only one other person-- so I jumped in the pool.

It turned out to be an excellent choice because my lane partner got out about 10 minutes later.  When I looked up, I realized that hair-gel boy, and one of the other guys in the three-lapper had also gotten out.  I swam for the next half hour with a lane to myself, and was then joined by one of the "kick board twins," a name I've affectionately given to the two girls that swim around the same time as me, but use their kick boards to swim down the pool together and chat.  I envy their cleverness, as Bally (as far as I know), does not store kick boards for gym use and I will need to upgrade my gym bag from my backpack before I consider buying one and hauling it around.

As I walked out of the gym after my workout, I saw the culprit that brought on the events of the day.  The flyer read something like this--  "Want to add something new to your work out?  Training for a Triathalon?  Come check out our pool!  See Heather for details."  Great.