Due to COVID, the gyms were closed in March 2020. Swimming, both my exercise of choice and a deep meditative relaxation, came to a halt. My ritual, to surface dive, swim along the bottom of the pool and break the surface with the breast stroke, was over. No more swimmer’s high.
When the swimming pools reopened, in January 2021, I returned to the West Side Y in Manhattan, where I had been a member for over twenty years. The Y had two swimming pools, the Pompeiian and the Small Spanish pool with Italian tiles donated by King Alphonso XIII of Spain. I swam two or three times a week. I’d swim all year long, rain or snow, unless the pool was closed. Most people thought I was nuts to swim in Manhattan when I lived in Queens.
The Y wasn’t only a gym, but a community center. I would go out to dinner with Sarah who I met in my aqua aerobics class. I knew the locker room attendants, lifeguards, and managers, and made numerous friends and a few new clients including a philosophy professor. The talk in the women’s locker room was often about politics and culture. I was never afraid to express my disdain for Trump.
The Y began using a mobile app to reserve lanes, forty-eight hours in advance of each session. To swim at 4:00PM, one had to drop everything at 3:59PM, open the app to the day and time, hover a finger over a digital listing and then tap exactly on the 4:00PM session. This system required WiFi access.
During the first two weeks I was able to secure a lane. After that, it was impossible. Then I learned that the Long Island City Y that was closer to my home, accepted Silver Sneakers, a free gym membership offered by my health insurance policy for people sixty-five and over. Although the pool is large and the water warm, it is located in an unappealing industrial area surrounded by warehouses, scaffolding, car washes and graffiti. I don’t know what this pool was like before the pandemic, but for now it’s a swim, shower and go home situation.
After months of anguish, I gave up my West Side Y membership and switched to the Long Island City Y. How long will it be before I can return to my beloved pool and friends at the West Side Y? When will this be over?
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In the fall of 2021, due to Covid, there has been a national lifeguard shortage. The West Side Y has limited its swimming days and hours.
Luckily, I have my free membership at the Long Island City Y.
