WOMEN ONLY

150 free
50 breast
100 free
100 medley
100 free
100 breast
100 medley
100 free
100 back
100 breast
100 free
===========
1100 free (actually I think more but I lost count)

I was feeling a bit weak after a 4 day bout of the flu, and didn't swim in my club yesterday (also we had to tidy up so our new cleaners could come clean our house). But I had read about swimming for women only from 8-9pm at one of the local swimming pools. "Great", I thought, "One of those well-meaning projects to try to get immigrant women to exercise more - there won't be a soul". When I showed up there was a line of about 30 women (half of which with a hijab) waiting to be let into the pool. My dreams of an empty pool were dashed, and I considered leaving. As I vascillated, a voice of sense spoke to me - "Not all of these women will be swimming laps - they're probably just coming to have a good time - give it a chance"

Although I had become the last in line, I stripped off my clothes quickly so I could get into the first wave of showers and stake my claim on the fast lane of the pool. I was the first one in the lane and swam at my usual speed when I was joined first by one hopeless swimmer unaware of the keep right lane etiquette and then yet another. I was so frustrated I forgot to count laps. Eventually one of the swimmers left the lane, and I was sharing my lane with a woman 10-20 years older than me with no clue how to swim. I quickly found out that I was swimming 4 times faster than her, and suddenly it was a sport for me to finish my 100 meter sets before she finished one lane.

Around 600 meters along, my respect for this woman grew. Not only was I unable to scare her out of the lane by swimming butterfly, but she just kept plodding along, taking no longer breaks at the end of her lane than I did at the end of my 100 meter set. She did eventually move over to the lane that had emptied next to us, but in my eyes she had transformed from an irritating poor swimmer to the toughest bird in the pool - plodding along at her own pace and swimming for 45 minutes. Swim cap off for you my dear!

HEAD ON COLLISION

100m crawl
100m medley
100m kick with fins(4 x 25 crawl front, back, side, other side)
100m 4 x 25 technique with hip fins
100m back kick with fins
100m crawl (focus on elbows)
100m breast (4 x 25m 8 strokes per lane)
100m crawl (4 x 25m 20 strokes per lane)
100m fly (4 x 25m 10 strokes per lane)
250m varied cool down
=====
1250m (approx 35 minutes)

I came late today because my shoulders were a bit sore after all of my max swimming. I decided to take it easy and coming late was the best way to ensure that I didn't swim too far. I was also tired after a miserable wait for my commuter train. There were no trains on my line in my direction for 90 minutes!!!

Anyway I get in the lane that only had one person, and I see her at the other end. It looks like she's taking a rest, so I start my lane and figure we can coordinate how to share the lane when we're both back at the other end. Unfortunately she didn't see that I had gotten into her lane and started swimming backstroke in the same side of the lane as me. I was so tired, I was just looking at the pool bottom and then suddenly BANG!, I'm hanging in the ropes. I wake up and see my clubmate and apologize, but she was really pissed off (I would have been too in her situation).

We both swim the rest of our programs, and I ask her how she's feeling when we're finished. She said not so good, and she's worried because she already has problems with her back. I wish she would have stopped swimming immediately, because now I'm worried about her. I think I'm actually feeling a bit of the impact now as well.