Have Pool - Will Swim?

I'm not exactly sure how it always happens like this but the swim segment of IMAZ training continues to be a frequent topic of my blog. Unfortunately, today is no different...

Understand, I only needed to accomplish 600 meters in the pool yesterday because this is a "recovery week". No problem, right? Wrong. I arrived at the pool ahead of schedule and quickly claimed an open lane. This was a much smoother process than previous swim sessions. One of the three swim teams that use the facility was present and swimming their laps. At first glance, the coach appeared to be a few team members short of a team. The coach indicated that only 2 of her 12 swimmers had decided to show. I told her she should commend the 2 for their commitment and she giggled and said, "And they were on Spring Break last week so they didn't know the water was cold." Hmmmmm, what exactly does that mean? Well let me tell you!

The community center where I swim is in a not-so-great area of town. The center itself is a very nice facility though with numerous activities and a large number of participants really on a regular basis. In keeping with the needs of the community and the center, the aquatics director (who harasses me all the time yet doesn't look like he's swam a day in his life) ordered a new pump for the pool. Perfect! I am sure a pool of this size definitely needs a state of the art pump to filter out random things that I always observed when I swam much slower. The problem with that accompanied the acquisition of a larger pump is the fact that the pool might also need a bigger pool heater! With that said, the new pump is causing the old heater to shut off automatically and not regulate the pool temperature. What this means for the swimmers is that the existence of a heated pool become only a facade. And, I cannot begin to tell you how cold the water is when the heater is not functioning properly. It became quite apparent to me upon my SLOWWWW entry into the pool that there was a high probability that the absent swim team members had actually been tipped off and if so, how do I (and the two swim team members who missed the memo) get put on the phone tree?

Once I acclimated to the wetsuit-appropriate water, I quickly found a rhythm. I reached 400 meters and then it happened! I looked at one of the swimmers in a neighboring lane and said, "Are those lights always on?" Several random emergency lights around the pool had popped on. Surely I would have noticed those before. This quick observation was rapidly followed by "EVERYBODY OUT OF THE POOL!"...With 200 meters to go (8 lengths, that's all I needed), we received notification that a transformer had blown. All power in the facility - LOST, and with that went that new state-of-the-art pump and that tired old heater

I sat on the pool deck with my swim partner trying to determine what the next course of action would be. To wait or not to wait? After 10 minutes of warming up wrapped in a cozy beach towel, the decision was made that if the water was cold before, a return entrance into the pool would mean getting acquainted once again with the cold water that was most likely even colder now that the pool heater had REALLY been given a break. So we left...200 meters short of the goal. For the second swim in a row, I'd been cheated by fate...destiny had intervened for reasons which I still do not know. Frustrated, I left.

The good news in all of this? The recreation area at Lake Murray near my house opens today! Have wetsuit - WILL SWIM!