Those of you who know me, know I live for that short season that Kits Pool is open from Victoria Day weekend in May, when it is at it's clearest, cleanest and coldest to September 12th, when you wish it just wouldn't ever close.
Canada's longest pool at 135m is as long as five blue whales nose to tail. You can spot the first-timers as they stand up about mid-way, put a hand over their brow and utter the words "Am I there yet?" Or, they stand up several times to spot their way to the end.
It can be intimidating, but let me assure you that it's not just the hard-core swimmers that enjoy the pool, and I'm not talking about the ample kid's pool on the other side of the rope. No, there's people like me. I use a snorkel and I'm not ashamed of it, without it I wouldn't be able to swim as long or often as it hurts my neck doing the front crawl without it. One young man said, "Why is it when I see a snorkel I want to put my hand over it?" A thought that had never occurred to me before, as it seems equivalent to holding a swimmer down under the water. I just said it was because he was "twisted", but in a joking way.
Snorkeling makes me feel like I'm snorkelling in the tropics. OK, I don't see tropical fish, (if only it were possible to stock KP with fish but the sea water, chlorine mix of the water isn't habitable for fishies), only the occasional flash of pretty toenail polish, but there are interesting (if not gross) things to see. Like the band-aid burial ground--a spot in the deep end of the pool where all the sloughed off bandages gather. Things like, lost nose plugs, costume jewellry, hair elastics, are uninspiring but more exciting are the tattoos on the swimmers. I don't go looking for them, but the body art emerges especially at the far wall where the water is so shallow, you have to stand up if you're going to rest or adjust your goggles. There you will catch glimpses of tribals, dolphins, flowers, fairies, butterflies, script--all so colourful and beautiful. Makes me covet one--maybe a water sprite on a shoulder blade, if it weren't for the fact that it would mean I couldn't swim until it healed--some six weeks. I swim or attend Waterworks arthritis programs almost daily year round, so that's not an option.
The guards do a phenomenal job of keeping the pool clean and safe both in the pool and in the surrounding areas, including the grassy hills, waterpark, deck areas. There are a few behaviours of patrons; however, that I'd like to to see change.
TOP TEN THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE KITS POOL MORE ENJOYABLE
#10 - Remember to peel off your band-aids, dressings, bandages, etc. before you go into the pool, or they will end up in the ever-growing band-aid burial ground, which is unsightly not to mention unsanitary.
#9 - Breast strokers please don't use your powerful kicks at the ends of the pool. I got kicked by a strapping young man in the gut one day and it knocked the wind out of me. So much so that I couldn't let him know my displeasure. That goes for you too--flipper people--swimming shouldn't be a contact sport--at least on a non-race day.
#8 - Kickboarders, backstrokers, water-runners, there IS a lane for you. It's called No Man's Land on the deep end on the pool along the North or far wall.
#7 - Those using the far wall (see #8), please, please, please don't use the far end to turn and swim in the WRONG direction into oncoming lap swimmers. I can see very well with my prescription diving mask, but not every swimmer can see well enough to avoid a head-on collision, thus jamming up the turn area.
#6 - Never ever ever stop to chat with your friends or hang out in the YELLOW ZONE. That's for the continual swimmers to do their flip or touch turns. That isn't to say you can't take your time before you do that next 137 m length. I have to walk at the end of each lap myself to prevent painful foot and leg cramps. I'd prefer to continual swim, but when I do I can guarantee myself cramping up and it never happens in the shallow side where it's not so panicky, only the deep end when you can't walk it out.
#5 - Keep the waiting line at the entrance one person/object deep for those of us with passes who can zip by the scanner. You might want to get yourself at least a 10 time pass to beat the lines yourself.
#4 - Get in the pool quickly, it just congests the ladder and launch area if you are inching yourself in slowly, plus you look like a wussie. Better to slide in right away--it's a bit of a shock for a few seconds but then you're good to go.
#3 - Wear a wet suit if you get chilled easily. The pool was 76 degrees last time I checked, which is colder than some lakes, so for your own comfort if you own a wet suit and it's cloudy, windy or raining you'll be far more comfie and won't be plugging up the turn areas complaining about how cold the water is if you have one on (myself included). I hate the suiting up process and talk myself out of bringing it along, but then suffer an icy swim on those less than perfect summer days. The pool is set on a point with no wind breaks except in a few seating areas so there's always chilly marine air which is OK once you're in the pool, but makes you not want to leave the pool ever.
#2 - Follow the guards' instructions immediately. For example, when we were swimming one evening and it started to thunder and lightning, you didn't have to tell us twice to exit the water, but one sole swimmer refused to leave the pool until they blasted the sirens at him. Perhaps, he was wearing ear plugs or had a hearing impairment, but he might have just been a single-minded triathlete trying to get in a full workout and willing to risk electrocution.
#1 - Shower with SOAP before you enter the pool, that's why the showers with endless hot water and soap are there. Kits Pool has mounted soap dispensers beside the showers this year to encourage it. The cleaner you are when you enter the pool, the cleaner the pool will be and the less chemicals will be needed to keep us safe. Yes, I know it makes for a bracing walk across the deck to the pool while dripping wet but it grosses me out when I see people jump in dry. If you want to swim without showering first, the ocean is right next door and it's self-cleaning--pools are not.
See you at the pool, although I go on off-peak hours to avoid the crowds. I'll be wearing a yellow diving mask and blue snorkel with an orange tip. I'll be in a blue one-piece suit, pulling a blue granny cart, or what I call my portable locker stuffed with my street clothes, wash bag, towel, sports drink (an important part of my anti-cramp strategy, a few sips every lap), keys, glasses, snorkelling gear and paperback book. I love my granny cart as I don't need to go near the busy problem areas in the change room anymore and it makes for a much faster entry and exit time from the pool.
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