The “happy” swim season has begun for many of us in the Northeast, where high school swim teams get ready for fall swim competition, thus, our area pool temperatures have dropped significantly.
LOVE-LOVE-LOVE IT!!!
So, I just had to share on social media just how ecstatic I was. There are several social media pages I could’ve posted my joy, but I stuck solely to those of us who enjoy swimming laps in a pool.
Unfortunately, this post about swimming in cooler water landed me in some rather hot water.
It created a firestorm between the competitive swimming purists who train and compete more efficiently in temperatures ranging from the mid/high 70s to 80 degrees, versus the folks who faithfully lap swim, but due to health conditions (i.e. arthritis), prefer water in the mid 80s – and above.
There were so many great points about the benefits to swimming in both cool and warm water. Yet, the debate raged on and on.
Another spark in my social media firestorm – let’s call it the true gasoline on the fire – was when I added an all- joking, yet snarky comment that read:
“Sorry, water aerobics ladies.” (complete with the smiling purple devil and laugh-out-loud emoji)
While this drew many “thumbs up,” laughs, hearts and supportive comments, I also upset several people, who felt the term Water Aerobics Ladies was, well, offensive. I’m not sure why simply because the women at our pool call themselves Water Aerobics Ladies. Those who found it humorous added other nicknames, and some even poked fun at themselves with terms like “Noodle Ladies” and “Aqua Fitness Gals.” Sadly, we seem to be in an era where comedians get cancelled and hypersensitivity runs rampant. How many times have you heard a young person say, “That offends me” or “Why can’t you be more politically correct?” Goodness, gracious!
So I deleted the post, and re-posted a very heartfelt apology, complete with a peace sign. But – I did not apologize for my preference of cooler water while swimming. While it drew even more Thumbs Up, hearts and also Care emojis, the Cool v. Warm Prizefight continued, and does to this day.
My Saturday 9:15 a.m. group of women all have their preferences, and out of the 5 of us, 4 are Team Cool. The Team Warm soloist complains a bit, but she manages to get in but makes sure we don’t rest much or she will get chilled and will cut short her practice with us.
We competitive swimmers will always have to deal with a variety of water temperatures and conditions that we simply do not like. I regret that I drew the ire of “People Who Do Not Swim Competitively” – or however you wish to classify them. Maybe we shouldn’t even label ourselves as “Competitive Swimmers” in this highly sensitive world we now live in.
Kumbaya, everyone, or as I wrote in my apology post, Peace out!
Sink or Swim 