Lap lane protocol

I love swimming laps at my local YMCA. It’s a gorgeous new facility with three lap lanes.

Swimming doesn’t feel like exercise to me. It’s so peaceful under the water; quiet, clear and a great place to think. I get into a zone, I think similar to runners where your body just takes over and you don’t have to think about it.

So what about the lap lane protocol? Let’s compare to the indoor track. If you saw someone running (not jogging) around the track at a quick pace, would you walk right in front of them and either just stand and stretch or walk at a leisurely pace? No? Me neither. But somehow in the pool, people lose their common sense and are not present in their surroundings.

Recently I was in the pool and swimming sprints—-swimming a lap as hard and fast as I could to elevate my heart rate and challenge my endurance. I was in the lane that opens to the rest of the shallow pool and a woman walked into my lane. I had my head down, only looking a foot or so in front of me so I almost barreled right into her. She was standing there, stretching, looking around oblivious to me.

I don’t know if this was a lesson from the universe to slow down and take an extra breath or a lesson to be more present and aware of the world around you. At that point, I just turned around and got back into my underwater zone.