Yesterday I went swimming for the first time in nine years. I haven’t been swimming since I moved to Reading, and the last time I remember being in a pool was during 2Kon in 2000. I’m pretty out of shape and have been gaining weight again recently. I blame the stress, but also the disruption to lifestyle that the travelling I’ve been doing produces. It’s hard to take regular exercise and eat healthily when you spend a third of your time jet-lagged and ten 1-4 day trips away from home in three months is awkward. So, while in Tokyo for the summer I figured that swimming would be a good habit to get into. There’s a public pool attached to a nearby High School (the usual deal of the School provides some of the funding and gets first dibs for lessons/competitions while the city provides the rest of the funding and it’s open to the public the rest of the time). So, swimming in Japan was an interesting experience.First, everyone is required to wear a bathing cap. I’m not sure of the scientific basis for any hygeine benefits, though I supposed it might reduce the amount of hair in the filters. Second, the pool has an adjustable depth. When first told this I was thinking that it must be a really hard piece of engineering to do that, but then I realised that it’s just an adjustable false floor. Quite neat, really. The 1.1m depth was just about OK for me, although my legs are too long for side stroke in that depth.

It was fun, not too expensive (Y380 for an adult, with a 10% discount if you buy a pre-pay card of Y3000 [costs Y2700]) and it’s not far to walk (10-15 minutes from home in Asakusabashi). I’m feeling it a little today, but I don’t think I really over-did it.

I’m planning to go two or three times a week if I can. Today would be nice as it’s “shino hodo atsui” (hot as death) in Tokyo today (32C) but I might or might not finish my research meeting in time. if not, it’ll have to be Wednesday as the School  has the pool for a competition tomorrow. Next week the School holiday starts so it’s open to the public all day most days.