After a lovely warm day, I cycled my hot and sticky carcass over to Cardiff International Pool this evening for a refreshing dip. The pool was packed - I think everyone must have had the same idea. You could hear the hiss of steam as people lowered their sizzling bodies into the cool waters.
I shared a lane tonight with two others; a man in his late twenties who was physically very fit and swam with the power and ferocity of a killer whale and a 12 year old girl who was plump with a little prepubescent fat and swam... well, she swam like a plump, prepubescent, 12 year old girl. In fact, she swam a bit like an injured seal.
None of us seemed that pleased to have been thrown together and I'm sure I wasn't the only one to feel a little exasperated. The injured seal seemed to be getting more flustered every time the killer whale carved past her and the killer whale's frustration was evident as she blocked his path with her nervous dithers and little extraneous splashes.
It was bit like watching a wildlife programme. If he'd finally risen from beneath her with a dizzying velocity to deliver a fatal blow, turning the water from a cool chlorinated blue to a frothing baby seal blood red, I don't think I would've been that surprised.
I've suggested that the pool allocate the lanes as either fast, medium or slow. Other pools have adopted this system. People can then choose a lane that suits them and their ability. That way they can separate the killer whales from the injured seals.
Later when I was changing, coming from the cubicle next to mine, I'm sure I heard David Attenborough's voice...
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