I’ve Been Getting Strange Comments at the Pool

Hilary Topper swimming in pool

Since being back at the pool a couple of weeks now, people have been standing over my lane. When I stop my workout and turn off my headphones, I say, “hi,” and the other swimmers look at me and say, “I just wanted to say hello.” It’s very nice but very strange at the same time, especially since I don’t know these people. This happened twice during this particular swim.

A couple of days later, I was planning on doing an open water swim, but after looking at the conditions from close up, I decided to head over to the pool at Lifetime Fitness in Garden City.

I swam around 1500 yards, an easy swim for me, and started to put my gear away.

As I was doing that, an older man came up to me and said, “I’m too fat to swim.” I looked him over. Number 1, he wasn’t fat at all, and Number 2, what does weight have to do with swimming?

“How do you swim so well?” he asked me.

“Well, I think the first thing to learn is to float. Can you float on your back with your legs staying straight?” I asked.

I demonstrated. He said he couldn’t do that.

“Well after you master that, then try to float with your head in the water,” I said. I demonstrated again. When I popped back up, I told him to make sure his body was completely straight like an ironing board.

“Are you here every Sunday?” he asked.

I told him I come on random days, sometimes Sundays. He wanted to know if I could give him lessons… That made me smile!