"Mahalo nui loa" for the free swim in Paradise

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Aloha! I’m back from Hawaii…one of the few places in the world that I really wanted to get to sometime in my lifetime…and it was all I hoped for and more. But, I didn’t really get how great it was until I got back to the DC area. Now, to be clear, I really like where I live…for many reasons, including the scenery but upon comparing it to Hawaii…well, let’s just say that it doesn’t really compare…as far as I’m concerned.

I did get 1 workout swim in while in Hawaii. It was an early Monday morning swim during the “early laps” session (630-800AM) at the outdoor Kihei (key-hay) Aquatic Center (pictured below) in Kihei, Maui. There were maybe a half-dozen other swimmers in the pool and we all had our own lanes.

I got in 3700 (scy) which equaled just more than 2 miles. I went an easy 1000… followed by twenty 50s on the minute U,A,R,C…then fifteen 100s on 1:30…and ended with an easy 200.

As the sun rose above the palm trees and beamed down on my lane I switched my goggles from the clear to the dark and the nearby lifeguard commented “you don’t wear clear goggles in Maui” to which I replied “not for long”. The guard went on to tell me that they do wear clear goggles when they swim in the ocean…which a group of swimmers do every Sunday. But we wouldn’t be there for their next open water swim as our trip to paradise was winding down.

And how much did my morning dip at the county pool cost me? Zip, Zilch, Nadda, Nothing...it was FREE! Finally, tax dollars put to use for a real good reason - free pool time.

Splish-Splash:

The dark goggles I wore in Maui were the same goggles that stayed filled with water as I crossed the Chesapeake – OH SURE! now they work.