First Dip in Months

Thirty-three swimming pools in Hong Kong reopened on Thursday

On Thursday public swimming pools in Hong Kong reopened cautiously after two months because of the coronavirus pandemic and I gave it a shot.

A fellow gym member who is also an avid swimmer texted me to say she had gone at 1pm and was so excited she swam 4k. For her it was a breeze because she had been swimming in open water for the past two months and built up enormous shoulders, sending me a picture of her hulking upper arms as proof.

The pool in the right was closed, but the other one was open

She encouraged me to try the pool out before the hordes came and I decided to take her advice.

At around 8.30pm that evening, I headed over to the pool and was surprised to find I was the only person entering the lobby area, where there was a temperature scanning device. No one said anything to me as I went through the turnstile up to the changing room.

There was hardly anyone in there either -- just another person who was dressed and ready to leave -- just as I was getting ready to go in.

It was so bizarre as the place is usually buzzing with mothers corralling their children into the showers, or coming out with towels wrapped tightly around their bodies, or busy blow-drying their hair.

My favourite area, the 25-metre pool was closed, so I had to either make do with the 50-metre pool inside or outside and I chose the latter.

There were barely 20 people in the large pool which again was a strange sight, but it was good not to see too many people in there. I went into the far side and the water was refreshingly cool. However, the first several laps were a struggle! It was almost as if I had forgotten to swim properly and on top of that not being used to the long distance.

Social distancing was maintained in the pool

I did freestyle for one length and then breast stroke on the return, followed by a few seconds of rest before heading back out again. By around lap 16 I started getting the hang of it, stroking properly and breathing; swimming forces you to breath out slowly as you blow bubbles, unlike wearing a surgical mask on land where you take very shallow breaths.

There was some light rain as we swam, but thankfully they disappeared, along with more swimmers in the pool.

Don't know when the next time I'll be back, but yes, it was good to be back in the pool again.