Becoming an Enthusiast 03: Freshman Year and the Final Straw

[ReservedEnthusiast]

I finally reach my breaking point in my resistance.

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Part 2: The Last Straw

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Our campus recently opened a brand new, absolutely stunning recreation center which has been ranked amongst the most beautiful in the nation. It has multiple racquetball courts, an indoor track, countless basketball courts, more weightlifting and machinery space than you could possibly hope to use, and a huge pool deck with beach volleyball courts, a leisure pool, and an olympic pool.

At the time, I still just had a pair of unlined Quicksilver board shorts which I’d used to replace the ones I’d gotten at Walmart (see previous “Becoming an Enthusiast” story), so I decided to wear those to swim laps. When I first went, I expected most people to just be in board shorts, even for swimming, because I know how shy college guys are when it comes to putting that part of their body on display (kind of ironic, considering how quick they are to show off the rest of their bodies).

Now, in one sense I was correct: every bro hanging out and tanning on the pool deck was in board shorts. But, I soon realized that I was the only one who’d come to exercise who was not in a speedo or jammer! I thought I would feel out of place in a speedo, but it was shockingly just the opposite! It was the oddest awkward situation I’d been in, where I was the one who was out of place BECAUSE of my modesty. I found myself rushing to get in the water BECAUSE of the shorts. I felt like everyone was staring at how stupid I looked.

In hind sight, of course, it’s a good sign that it was the opposite of what I’d expected. And, I should have known better since it seems like almost every single friend of mine at school (and the student body as a whole) used to be a swimmer or water polo player! It makes me wish I’d pursued doing it myself in high school. I love being in the pool, and I love the camaraderie between swim mates.

Anyway, wearing board shorts combined with the fact that I hadn’t swum laps for exercise in years resulted in me swimming only 2 laps. There was so much drag on the suit, and they were clumsy to swim in! Regardless of opinions about whether you can acceptably leisure swim and hang out in speedos, board shorts are just stupid for swimming laps. Why on earth would anyone do that unless they were a pro swimmer that needed the extra drag for a better workout?!

I decided that stopping my workout then was a better alternative to drowning. There was no questioning the fact that I’d reached the last straw using board shorts to swim. The first thing I did after FURIOUSLY storming back to my dorm that afternoon was start googling speedo brands and styles. But that’s for the next installment.

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Chapter 4 is almost ready!

[ReservedEnthusiast]

I should add that the only reason I swam 2 laps instead of one is because my stuff and the entrance to the locker room was at the other end of the pool. By the time I finished the first lap, I felt like a cat that had accidentally fallen in the bath tub and was desperately trying to get out again. There was a 3-minute pause in between those two laps lol