In Other Pool News...

I'm kind of shocked to find that anybody bothered to write an article devoted entirely to swimming pool lane etiquette, but this article in the Washington Post is so on point about it, it's actually entertaining. At least to anybody who has ever done some kind of competitive swimming before or has happened to get stuck in a lane with someone who likes to flail their arms unnecessarily. The article discusses issues at a community 50-meter pool, much like the pool at LMU. To me, the funniest parts of the article are the various shenanigans that lap swimmers will try to get away with in order to keep a lane to themselves, like the retirees who told a lap swimmer that it was "Senior Citizen Swim" hour so that they wouldn't have to share a lane. It may seem petty and ridiculous to someone who isn't in or around pools very often, but things like that happen all the time. The other interestingly accurate aspect of the article was the difficulty in sharing lanes when two swimmers are at completely different skill levels. As someone who has swam competitively my whole life, I've been taught that the proper etiquette when you want to pass someone who is swimming slower in front of you is to tap the person's foot. Then that person is supposed to stop either mid-lane or at the wall to let you go by, then continue swimming. But, as the article states, for people who are casual or beginner swimmers, the foot tap can easily freak them out, which I have personally experienced. I think this article is both entertaining and absolutely dead-on about all the weird etiquette and hierarchical practices that go on at most community pools, that many people are totally unaware of. Check it out! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/09/AR2010030902195.html

Team Updates

The women's water polo team is in the middle of their season right now, and so far it's their best start in school history with a current record of 10 - 2. The most recent matches took place last Sunday at UC Santa Barbara, with back to back games against UCSB and Fresno Pacific, winning both games soundly. The next game will be a home match this Friday at the Burns rec Pool against CSU Bakersfield, a conference opponent. Game time is 3:00pm, so come out and support the Lions!

For more team info and complete schedule, go to http://www.lmulions.com/sports/w-wpolo/loyo-w-wpolo-body.html

The Regulars: The Bag Lady

There is a woman who comes to the pool fairly frequently who has her own unique work out regime. She always wears a big floppy hat and walks up and down the shallow end of the pool for hours...but she takes a CD player in with her that ius encased in a paper bag and floats on top of a kickboard. I mean, I'd love to be able to afford one of those swim caps that comes with built in ear buds because listening to music while swimming makes it so much better, but putting a CD player in a paper bag atop a kickboard is just odd.

The Regulars: Froggy a.k.a. Spitter a.k.a. The Silver Bullet

I've become a bit of a pool paparazzi these days, which I'm sure my coworkers and patrons think is a bit creepy, but there are some people who visit the pool quite often that you need to know about. These are patrons who have become memorable in on way or another, and in some cases, even earned themselves a nickname (of which they have no idea). The first of these is probably the most important, who we lifeguards affectionately refer to as Froggy, Frogman, Frogger, Spitter, or The Silver Bullet. The Silver Bullet name comes from the nearly see-through silver speedo he used to wear to match his silver swim cap, until he replaced it with an odd flesh-colored one that turns brown when it gets wet (as you can see above). The frog nicknames come from the way he swims (he literally looks like a frog that's about to drown), and Spitter is what he does whenever he lifts his head out of the water to take a breath. He's been coming to the pool for as long as I can remember, but I have yet to hear him speak or find out what his name actually is.

Meet...Shauna, the Swim Lesson Coordinator!

Meet Shauna. She's in charge of assigning swim lesson kids to instructors. Be nice to her because Shauna has the power to stick you with a screamer, or worse, a kid with a crazy parent. Lucky for me, my lesson kids right now are pretty good, and they have normal parents.

Views from the lifeguard stand

Lifeguards see a lot while sitting up in the stand. There's the other lifeguard sitting across from me (looking just as bored as I am), people sunbathing (even though the wind chill makes it feel like its below 50), random tennis balls that come flying over the bleachers from the courts every other minute, and of course, lap swimmers who look like they might drown at any moment.