Swimming in the Zeitgeist

Swimming in the Zeitgeist
by Klaus Varley

I don't know why I went to the pool, but I did.

Michael Phelps made me do it. I don't know how, but he did.

The pool seemed extraordinarily crowded for a Thursday afternoon. I shared a lane with three other people.

Half-way through my first lap, I realized I hadn't swam in a long, long time. But I was still faster than other people in nearby lanes.

Why were they swimming so slowly?

On my second lap, I realized why - swimming is tiring.

By the third lap, I had another theory - Michael Phelps made them do it. They had seen nothing but swimming for the past week - swimming was in the collective zeitgeist. Their brains said "swim," and swim they did, even if they couldn't swim very well.

Lap four - Was I a victim of this as well? Could it be possible that Phelps and Co. had co-opted my freedom of choice? Was swimming was my only option for physical fitness? If I swam on a regular basis, could I too eat whatever I wanted?

Perhaps.

Or perhaps I was thinking too much about this. And I was getting tired.

I got out, rinsed off, saw a bunch of naked men in the locker room, and noticed that though I felt like Phelps when I put on a Speedo, my reflection did not echo this inner image. Maybe if I shaved my legs...

Or maybe not.

And that's okay. Next week everyone will out of the pool and down on the track doing the 100 meter dash and I...will probably be there too.

-KV