Am I full of myself because I asked the lifeguard to film me as I dove off the board? I don't think so, I just wanted to have something to remind that at 55 plus, I could still do something I did when I was young. My intention is to still be able to do this dive at 80 and swim as many lengths.
Let me put this in context. I was afraid to swim when I was little. David M. who was a year older than me, showed me how to put my face in the water at la "barbotteuse". In the middle up close to the fountain, the wading pool was just deep enough for little kids to learn to swim underwater. I must have been 5 or 6, but I can still remember being able to propel myself underwater. It gave me such a feeling of freedom. That was the 60's and I don't remember there being a lifeguard at "la barbotteuse".Times change. It's been replaced by a much safer splash pad where there is no water accumulation.
Swimming lessons were given in the mornings at the municipal pool that you see in this video, just down the street and around the corner from my house. Imagine being a skin and bones little kid weighing in at most 50 pounds and waiting your turn on the side of the pool in the shade of the tall trees before the sun has risen high enough in the sky to warm your little body. I couldn't take the shivering. Me and my blue lips quit swimming lessons and didn't learn to swim at the surface. I was okay with that. I could swim under water, anyway!
In high school, just as my volleyball season had come to and end, some students pleaded with me to sign up for swimming lessons. It wasn't that they wanted me in particular, they just needed one more person so that the course would be given. Our local high school has an indoor pool. No more shivering in the shade! I took a succession of courses and became a lifeguard at 16.
Back then, the pay sucked, but I loved being outside. My best friend had a well-paying job in the dining room of the resort hotel, but I loved the water and no amount of money could make me give up lifeguarding. I even loved the boredom of the cool, rainy days.
Swimming has always been there for me. It's a way to stay in shape (I know that I shouldn't have worn a 2 piece bathing suit in this video, but it was what was hanging on the clothesline when I decided to dash and do a few dives before the pool closed yesterday! At 55, I'm beyond caring!) and it's a way to calm myself and meditate.
I don't train in shape in the summer months. I splash around like the little kid I still am inside. I let myself play in the water with whoever wants to humour me. September is coming and I'll be back to lap swimming indoors soon enough. Until the outdoor pool closes Sunday, let me do a few more dives and cannonballs!
