Jellyfish.

Today I got to the pool later than planned, so it was decided it would be a short swim workout. Timing is everything at the pool. Any time give or take 10 min. can make the difference between being full and being the only one swimming. There are no exceptions to the time of day or day of the week.

Today I timed it a little off. I was actually hoping it would be a lull time, but as usual, it was a pool full of jellyfish. You know, those "floaters" who actually don't ever swim a stroke, just float from one end of the pool to the other. Of course they can't do this on one side of the lane; they need the whole thing. They will not share. They do not seem to notice that people who actually can swim a lap or two might wish to use their lanes. They do have a "leisure" pool for just this purpose, as well as a non-sectioned part of the main pool which is for non-lap swimmers. But they never go there. They always need a lane for this floating motion they call swimming.

Its would be quite humorous if it weren't so irritating watching them from under water. Some are almost standing upright, some are on their backs, some on their fronts, but they are not swimming, no matter how much you stretch your imagination.

So today I shared the open section with Don (which is partly why I was late--he is retired; he doesn't seem to have any clue about my work schedule). Don is a great swimmer, having come a long way from when we first met. He can lap me in freestyle twice in a half mile swim, and multiply that for any other distance. But in kicking, I can still outswim and outkick him. I'm sure it is his arm strength that does it, because without fins, he would have no kick. I was glad there was no one else in this section because it is no fun swimming in the same lane with Don. Everyone complains, good naturedly of course, because he can't keep from slapping the water on every stroke, so every time he goes by you, you get a tidal wave of water over your head and into your mouth, no matter which side you breathe. And he comes too darn close to my face for my liking.

The rule then today was: "You see this line? Good. You stay on one side, and I will stay on the other. Got that??" Today was a good day. No slaps in the face!