I'm glad I did not go to the beach to swim as suggested recently by a friend. It has been a long time since I went swimming anywhere, so I went to the residents' pool where I live to check myself out. I was shocked to learn that while I know the mechanics, my body is rusty and swimming is not all that easy to jump back into as a pleasurable hobby or exercise. And getting back into a comfortable, safe and enjoyable swimming mode is very important safety factor.
All of us have seen stories, some as recent as the past week in the Charleston, SC, area, where people are swimming in the ocean and drown. Confident swimmers underestimate the currents, get caught up and, perhaps, over estimate their own capabilities. This is tragic.
Sometimes people drown when a boat they are in overturns, and it comes out after the fact that they did not know how to swim.
All of which says "be careful of the water." Swimming is a pleasure I have enjoyed since my early years. A trip to the lake was a good time. Swimming in the mill canals in and around Lowell, MA, was good fun in the summer to young boys, but in retrospect it was a dangerous stupid venture. The water was dirty, people threw all sorts of trash from tires to old bicycles to broken bottles and whatever in those waterways around the city. Periodically water power managers would shut off the water from the river and the canals would go dry. Looking into the bottom of the canal was an experience which should have told us: "Don't swim here, stupid." But, we were young and over confident, and as boys will do, we ignored the message. Those of us who did it and are still here to talk (write) about it had the good fortune to be watched over by a guardian angel who didn't take the summer off.
In my golden years I still enjoy the water, but I know and respect my limits. If it has been some time since you went swimming, check yourself out first in a pool with a buddy at your side. (Click on photo - taken at Isle of Palms, SC - to enlarge.)
