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But swimming with every muscle in our body already protesting the slightest movement did not sound exciting, to state the obvious.Â
Nonetheless, we arrived at the designated area, a cove where at least the water was relatively calm--thank goodness--in our cutest two-piece suits ready to give it the old Sooner go.
We had acquiesced, however, to the greater wisdom of the Amazons and Animals. We now had our bodies slathered with the white goop. No way could our bright pink skin take another day of the unforgiving July sun of Oklahoma. Janet had even combed her hair out, putting it in a pony tail. My hair was short, so I was good to go.
After some limbering exercises to "prevent cramps"--agony would be an understatement, given our soreness already--the instructors told us we were to swim to the opposite bank. It looked to be about a half mile. Hey! I could handle that!
"No rush! Speed will not get you a better grade.  You can turn on your back to float if you get tired, and we'll be in ski boats right beside the group.   We are all certified water safety instructors with extensive experience in giving CPR should someone go under," one remarked.
I CAN'TÂ tell you how much better THAT made me feel!Â
"All right!"Â Everybody hit the water!"
Well, I tell you! That was the last word we heard from those instructors for the next two hours other than "turn around, and swim back to the other shore."
Hey! They didn't tell us that! That wasn't part of the deal!  It worked that soreness right out,....at least temporarily. We thought we were sore that day! It wasn't even going to compare to how miserable we were going to be the next morning.
And the Amazons and Animals must not have heard the part about speed not counting.  When Janet and I finally turned at the opposite shore after several "rests on our backs," we met them halfway back on their second go.
I lost track of how many times they lapped us; but, to be honest, I just didn't care. At that point, I was just trying to keep from becoming the first of our group to have to test just how good those CPR instructors really were at reviving someone. Finally--and not a moment too soon--they called a halt to the punishment. After a fifteen-minute break, the instructiors announced that now we were "going to have a little race."Â
We just looked at one another and laughed. We would have cried; however, we still had our pride, even if we had just undergone 'water torture' by a group who could have put the interrogators at Gitmo to shame.
Our only consolation was that we knew we would be eliminated the first round. But NO! Those taskmasters still were not through with us. They "handicapped" everyone. Guess what! We got to go first with a full lake's width lead. They thought they could break us! Well, we had news for them!
I am proud to announce that even with the 'handicapping' we still managed to maintain our level of incompetency. In fact, we were rapidly becoming the "darlings" of the group, with the Animals and Amazons pulling for us to survive without giving up. I suspect some made some serious money on side bets, especially the instructors.
That afternoon, when we went to play doubles tennis, two of the biggest, brawniest Animals were paired with us. I had played some tennis in college but that had been ten years ago. Janet had never played.
After a couple of sets, I began to get the hang of it once more, actually hitting the ball!!  Since I am a left-handed player, no one could handle my serve--or was that because it never got over the net?????? Details! Details!
Finally, the animals stopped the game, calling a consultation. After some serious grunting and gesturing, they moved us to the net, they took the baseline and we made it fine after that.
Those two "animals" were going to save our necks later in the week.
(To Be Continued)
posted on May 11, 2010 8:53 AM ()
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