Isn’t it interesting what can trigger memories? Sights, smells, actions, can all generate familiar waves of thought, which flood back from times long forgotten. These experiences occur unexpectedly, which is what happened to me when I rediscovered my love of swimming. It wasn’t a planned event, it just happened while I was rehabilitating the broken bones in my foot.

It takes six months for bones to fully heal. Since I am not one to sit around, finding activities to keep me moving without re-injuring myself has been quite a challenge. Being back in civilization provided more options to try out and so I joined the local “Y”. Not quite ready for the gym I started down in the pool.

Aah, the smell of chlorine … and all of a sudden I felt a small smile on my face. Sliding into the pool, gliding underwater, then starting into front crawl created this really big smile deep inside me. I just couldn’t believe how a stinky old swimming pool had produced such good feelings and such old memories.

And the memories washed over me as I effortless completed the first few lengths. I remembered times as a rambunctious “Y” brat horsing around in the pool every Saturday morning, splashing the life guards, plugging the shower room to create a splash pad and competing in swim meets just for the fun of it. I realized, swimming pools did hold a lot of good memories for me.

After those first few easy lengths I had to start working harder and I had to admit to myself that I was out of shape. But then my mind shifted and I recalled with pride how I subsidized my education by life-guarding and being a swim instructor. All of those hours in the pool allowed me to work at youth camps in waterfront positions, surf guard on the east coast and compete nationally in Master’s events.

Finally, gasping for breath with the last few strokes, I realized that I still have many good friends because of my time in the water. The legendary backyard pool parties, water basketball competitions, canoeing and scuba diving trips may not have happened had I not been raised a water baby. Slowly crawling out of the pool, I wondered what else swimming had in store for me, what else the water could teach me.

Sitting in the steam room afterwards, I thought to  myself, funny how all of those memories started from the smell of chlorine and a few lengths in the pool …