A Manatee Among the Seal People

In an effort to, finally, bring my life-long struggle with

weight under control, in June I joined a local organization 

for masters swimmers. Indy Aquatic Masters has

training sessions at several local pools six days of the week.

While the IUPUI Natatorium is generally 

where I swim during the week, on Saturday morning 

I joined the folks for a training session at 

the Riviera Club, an old pool that was first opened 

in 1933. I say *joined* advisedly because among 

the IAM members are people who regularly swim 

triathlons and compete in meets, as well as 

several folks who have swum the English Channel. 

If I want to become one of the seals, 

I need to work hard, to use tools like the fins 

and paddles shown in the top photo 

to help improve my stroke. The man standing

to the left in the above photo is Craig, 

my coach at IUPUI. His is the unenviable task

to help me reach the goals I've set for myself, 

but he first has to get me to the point when he can

refer to timed intervals to set and check my progress.

Poor bugger.