decidedlyodd

I went over to Kessing kind of late today, so that I could drive and park instead of taking the bus. Parking was a mess since it was around 5:30 and things were still fairly crowded. Still, it was a good workout. 1200 yards in 45 minutes, which is about as much as I’ve ever done (at least when I was keeping track).

It almost amazes me how much the personality of the pool changes between summer and fall semesters. The average age has dropped substantially. In fact, all the older people seem to have disappeared and it’s 100% students. Another strange thing I’ve noticed is that it now seems I am in the minority in wearing a racing suit. And I’m not just talking about guys wearing jammers or stuff like that. I’m talking about guys wearing swim shorts and full-blown knee-length board shorts. I guess younger people are really ashamed of their bodies (although most of these guys have no reason to be) or insecure in their sexuality or some such nonsense.

I know what you’re thinking… Wearing skin tight suits doesn’t really make a difference if you’re just swimming for fitness. I’ll give you that, but people wear special running shoes to jog, expensive spandex bike outfits to cycle, buy special discs for playing disc golf and so on and so forth. So, why not wear a swim suit designed for swimming when doing said activity? The right tool for the right job axiom and all that. I guess insecurity trumps function. Personally, I got over such nonsense after living in Germany I guess, so I shouldn’t be so judgemental of shame-driven Americans.