Tuesday, December 29, 2009
8:57 PM
Swimming Pools
Geoff Leigh (spelled incorrectly on purpose in order to cut down on the chances that someone will happen upon my page (which is supposed to be impenetrably private) accidentally while googling the real name.
This pool used to be 12ft. deep at the end. It had three diving boards, one of which was a high dive. A guy with whom I went to school dove off of one of the lower boards one day, hit a swimmer head-first, broke his neck and was forever rendered a paraplegic. Lifeguards were supposed to keep swimmers out of the diving board area so that that couldn't happen but that particular day, a kid wearing a swim mask while swimming underwater managed to wander over in front of the diving board. My friend, the diver, didn't see him because he was a foot or so below the surface. It was a tragic accident that almost took Ricky's life. His family sued the city for millions of dollars and won, which resulted in the pool being totally renovated so that the deep end would only reach as far as 8ft. and the high dive was taken away completely. It's still a great pool but without the high dive and extra-deep water, it's not quite as cool as it once was.
*Sidenote: Some of my male friends and my ex-boyfriend, D.H. laughed and made fun of me when I announced that I had been working on doing a double flip on the low board, had mastered it, and was ready to try performing it on the high dive. They knew I was a good diver but they seriously doubted I would have the courage to try the double off of the high dive. They wouldn't try it on the low board, so they SURE wouldn't do it off of the high dive. And since they were guys and THEY wouldn't do it, then the automatica cheuvanistic presumption was that I wouldn't/couldn't either. Surely you know where this story is headed.
I DID do the double flip off of the high dive that day in front of all of the naysayers. In fact, because my adrenaline was sparked so high, I almost did a 2 1/2 accidentally by over-rotating just a little. lol The extra rotation caused my face to slam HARD on the surface of the water. I thought I was going to pass out before I could get back above water and it hurt like crazy. But I did the double flip and that's what mattered the most to me. So when I came back up for air, I made sure that I didn't show any signs of that which I was feeling inside. Those guys had no idea how hard my face had hit the water. I came up smiling and I swam straight to the ladder, climbed up, and headed back up to the high dive again. I wanted to cry because my face hurt so badly but I held it in and faked my way to respect that afternoon. lol I got high-fives, (including one on my butt from a high school guy which was a little creepy) and one of my friends, K.K. said to all of the other guys, "She's got more guts than I do!", which, at that time, was a high accolade for this tomboy. LOL
At home later that night, I passed by a mirror and noticed that some blood vessels had burst above one of my eyes as a result of the harsh impact I had experienced doing my big, impressive dive. lol I didn't care though. That was a hard-earned badge of courage as far as I was concerned. lol
*note: I also spent some summers swimming at M_ullynn Pool (spelled incorrectly on purpose). I actually loved it better than all of the others including the JISTP that was built new when I was in jr. high. I haven't yet found a pic of that pool yet but I will continue to dig until I do.
* note: Geoff Leigh also has a kiddie pool and my mom took me over to swim in it a handful of times when I was a preschooler before they built one right behind our house. Though I only went a few times, I have very fond memories of that because it was such a big deal to me. I have always loved pools in the same way that I have always loved pianos. For as long as I can remember, I have been innately drawn to pools and pianos. When I was a little girl, they were so wonderful to me that they might as well have been magic. Just the sight of one would excite me beyond description. That's still true today. When I was a child, my mom had a friend who did all of her major sewing (costumes, etc.) for her. Her name was Mrs. Gill and she lived just around the corner from GL pool. I remember as though it were yesterday, that I would ALWAYS ask my mom to take the route that would involve driving by the pool because I just had to see it. Even during the winter when there was no water in it, I still got excited just looking at it. lol
*note continued: There was a motel right next to the laundry mat we used to go to (before we got a washer/dryer set) and it had a pool behind it. So every single time I went to the laundry with my mom, I would wander over there, stand outside of the fence and just gaze at that pool for several minutes, dreaming of jumping in and swimming. By the grace of God, I never actually got close enough to accidentally fall in though the gate was always open. Parents just didn't worry about such things back then. It's a wonder any of us made it to adulthood. LOL
*note continued: And of course there was the E family's pool. Oh how I LOVED swimming in THAT pool. That's where I taught myself how to swim. One day, after being left in the shallow end one too many times by David and Bernie, I decided I was tired of being confined to my little kiddie space while they made fun of me and taunted me because I couldn't chase after them when they were in the deep end. lol So after they got out of the pool, I stayed and plotted my move. A few minutes later, while my dad slaved over the grill cooking burgers and Ralph walked around scooping leaves out of the pool, I went for it. I took off swimming and as I passed by Ralph, who was scooping down near the deep end, his face went pale, and he stuttered trying to tell my dad that I had escaped babyland. LOL I made it all the way to the end without a problem and I was so proud of myself but my dad panicked as much as Ralph did so he ordered me back to the shallow end. Not only that, but he made me put a life jacket on because he no longer trusted me to stay in the safe area. As an adult today, I fully understand his concerns and realize he was right to do that for my own protection but on the day it actually happened, I was mad as a hornet. All I knew was that I had made a major breakthrough as a new swimmer and instead of receiving congratulations and words of parental pride, I got yelled at and sent back to the minor leagues as though I had done something wrong. I didn't understand at all and so it broke my heart. Or maybe it just pissed me off. It was one or the other. lol