It's been a while since I've been for a swim. When we were in Australia we got into a real habit of swimming 4-5 times a week. Swimming is something I have come to love. I knew there are pools here, but did not know what they would be like. In the last number of years in Russia things have been pretty run down. I had expected that the pool would be dingy with peeling paint.
We found the Lokomotiv pool the other day after friends told us where it is. I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it is clean with new tiles. It's a 25m pool, for some funny reason a woman working there told me it's 20m. But I measured it, and it's definitely 25.
Swimming in a pool in Russia has some different rules. When you come in off the street you have to change out of your shoes and put some slippers on. I've bought my own rubber pair now. I guess they serve a double purpose: 1) You don't bring any dust or dirt in off the street (an inevitability) which would make the change rooms muddy, 2) It protects people against fungus.
I can handle the slippers, but I'm less excited about having to wear a swim cap. The reason is to keep hair from clogging up the drains. Never mind that this doesn't happen in Australia, it's just a cultural rule and that's just the way it is. I'm ok with it, but it does make my scalp itch a bit. I'd far prefer to get my hair wet.
I used to swim 1000-1500m on average of 4 times a week back in Oz. But as it takes longer on the bus, I might make it a 3 time a week affair but swim 2km each time. I swam 1500m today. I will have to work up to a regular 2km, it was always an exceptional swim back in Oz.
All in all, I am very happy to have found a place to exercise regularly. This will make living here far more practical and enjoyable. Melody has gone to water aerobics locally (a 5 minute walk, instead of a 30 min bus trip). Melody will likely swim in the pool too. I might just take some nice long walks in the forest on my off days. Well actually I have a 30 min hike up hill through the forest to get to my classes, starting Monday.
3 comments:
Excellent! It looks better than our Levenshulme Baths which are Victorian era and desperately in need of a bit of TLC.
I agree with the swimming cap (I hate them), but Syndal Swim makes you wear one - so not completely unknown here. What was most annoying was that I had to pay for a new one for the kids each year as they wouldn't discount the school lessons even though we had one!
A side note is that this is the only pool in Krasnoyarsk that has so far had remont.
The one near is should be done within a year or so. So I'll get used to Lokomotiv first, but then will be very happy when our local pool opens up.
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