Day 24: Splash

If I was to believe in reincarnation and be allowed to choose what I'd like to be reincarted as, I would definitely opt to be a sea creature, a dolphin specifically.

Dolphins are smart, they are friendly, they seem to be happy all the time, they have a darn good reason to have layers of blubber and they can live under the sea and swim around all day! Pretty sweet life, as long as they can stay away from oil slicks and fishing nets that we ghastly humans lay down every now and then.

I'm a water baby! Little mermaid was not only my most-watched Disney movie when I was younger but was also on my "things I want to be when I grow up" list. I don't really do a lot of sports and suck at most but with swimming, it's different. I really enjoy it,not just watching but also doing and it's perhaps one of the few racing sports that I wouldn't come last at...or so I thought...till I went for a dip on day 24.

I started swimming at the age of 8 when I was involuntarily thrown into the deep waters by my swimming coach. At first, I hated the smell of chlorine, disliked wearing the goggles and feared the deep end. But just like most things, as soon as you can realise you can do them (and are not too shabby at), you start liking them. "Fear is a friend who is misunderstood" as John Mayer would say. I transcended very quickly into a stage where it was hard to tear me away from the pool or the beach. Summer meant swimming or splashing around in the pool for a big chunk of the day.Fear of water? Say what?

As I grew older, just like everything else which was healthy and fun, swimming took a back seat as well. I would still attempt to go for early morning swims in the ocean as often as I could during the summer in NZ but slowly and surely, swimming just became a hobby I once had. I hardly swam in Prague. I blamed it on the cold...even though the pools were heated, nothing was as comforting and reassuring in winters as the layers of fat and clothes or the liquid blanket of slivovice.

Now that it was almost-summer, it was time to reconnect with my favourite summer hobby! I went for a swim to the closest community pool (was too cold and choppy for an ocean dip). Thankfully it was after 7.30 pm so it wasn't infested with children of all age groups but there were still an undesirable number of people. I started zealously with my laps. Nothing like a good dose of work out to make you realise how horribly unfit you are. I huffed and puffed like I had just smoked an entire pack of cigarettes but paddled and splashed along for a good 25 laps. I was pleased with myself till I realised that wasn't even a whole kilometre! However I was poofed and ready to reward myself with some steaming and saunaing (or pre-conditioning myself to the weather in Singapore as I convinced myself that night)! Hot steamy end to a good pseudo-summery swim!

If I really do want to be reincarnated as a dolphin or come remotely close to being a mermaid, I seriously need to work on my swimming abilities! I came, I dipped, I splashed, I nearly died of exhaustion. A refreshingly new day!