Today, I reached an entirely new level of workout intensity. Blame it on the Decorah swim team. Now that the snow has all but vanished, people are starting to leave the Cresco Fitness Center in order to go work and play outside. Everyone, that is, except for the Cresco and Decorah swim team. On some level, this shouldn’t be too surprising—there’s a fitness center with a nice pool, it would only make sense to have a swim team that uses it.
I’m not too sure about high schools today, but when I was sent through high school our choice of sports was confined to the basics—basketball, football, baseball, track & field and cheerleading. Then again, I knew other schools that had a pool, along with other amenities, so I can’t be too surprised that Cresco and Decorah have swim teams.
What does surprise me, though, is that the Decorah team is good. Very good. As in, state-level good. Olympic-level good has been tossed around occasionally, too, although not officially. Apparently the Cresco swim team is no slouch, either, which is probably what happens when you have a really good swim team in the next town over. The only downside to having two great swim teams from two towns using one pool is that sometimes the swimming civilians get nudged out in the summertime, what with practices and weekly swim meets. This is probably the single greatest reason I can give for people who exercise by swimming to also learn how to lift weights.
Regardless, some members of the Decorah swim team were practicing during the open swim time. They’d cordoned off a lane and five teenagers were busy swimming fast. One of the Fitness Center owners informed me that I could use the lane after they were finished in the immediate future, but until then I could lounge in the hot tub and “be amazed.” I distinctly remember her saying that. Not being one to sit high up in the bleachers if I could get a close-up view of how competitive swimmers swam, I dived in the open section of the pool, and loosened up a bit as I watched. My initial thought was, “Wow, these kids are fast,” followed by my second thought of “Holy smoke, these kids are fast!” Their arms cut through the water like air, and unlike the times I swim freestyle, they were fast without flailing, totally in control of their movements. A girl swam a half-lap using some form I couldn’t begin to guess at that involved her lunging from the water like a large white fish. She made really good time, too.
I was impressed with their speed and their stamina, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to follow the lead of more experienced swimmers. After all, when I go to work out I do want to be pushing myself, and when I swim I don’t want to think that I’m not giving my all. Which is why I tried to swim as fast as the members of the swim team. For 18 laps.
To make a long story short, I did it but it took a lot out of me. I swung my arms through the water as hard as I could as fast as I could, and kicked up a storm without splashing everyone else in the pool, in the pool area, and let’s face it, the rest of the fitness center. After six laps I wondered what I was going to do for the other twelve, but I did manage to do it, albeit feeling less like a sleek dolphin, or at least Aquaman, and more like a dying mackerel, floundering from shore to shore. I type these words with arms that feel like Jell-o, and legs that feel like the bones were removed somehow. Darned things just don’t want to work. They are impressive, these swimmers. I would like to get to their level someday.
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