I fell in love in the fast lane
Monday, February 1, 2016
I fell in love in the fast lane. And it was a real fast lane -- at U of T, where the fast lane is all triathletes and Masters swimmers and is a full 50m. I had been a medium lane swimmer, but switched lanes just so I could swim with the tall swimmer with a mean whip kick.
I have never swam so hard, or been so out of breath in all my swimming days the day I moved over to the fast lane. but I kept up.
And then, somehow, we both grabbed flutter boards at the same time and kicked side by side for at least a half hour. It was what swimming pool fairy tales are made of.
I can't remember how he asked me out, but he did after that swim, and I must say, there is something extremely reassuring to know that you'll always look better on a first date than you do in a bathing cap and goggles.
We dated, (and swam together) for two years and though I haven't seen him in years, I still know the cadence of his front crawl, the angle of his hand as it hit the water.
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Stuart and I met and fell in love in England, where there was no swimming. We went swimming in the sea a few times but it was freezing, and all inland waterways are polluted and terrible. And then about two years into our relationship, we went to Bangkok, and got into the hotel pool and discovered that all that time there were still things to discover about the other—we both LOVED swimming. But neither of us had any idea about this of the other. And it was so wonderful because after all this time of conducting our relationship on land, we had this whole entire element—the world expanded.
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