Swimming Pool Diary

After about one month in Tokyo, I have finally decided to take the plunge (so to speak). Knowing that every activity in Japan from talking to people to showering have their specify ways about it, I decided that I should find out what its like in the pools here, plus I REALLY need to, you know, excercise.

So off I went to Sendagaya station to the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. The indoor swimming pool there is the only public one with a 50 metres pool, according to Tadashi. Entrance fees is 600 yen per person and I think its for a 2 hours workout. They also have a multi-visit card, which offers I think 1 free entry or something like that (need to find out next time).

Once you go through the entrance, you go through the usual procedure of taking off your shoes at the platform. There are plastic bags there, take one to bag your shoes. Walk to the lockers and put in 100 yen. The 100 yen is returnable, so you can open and close the locker as often as you need.

Locker room stories

The japanese are quite unabashed about their bodies or being naked, unlike the hangups that Singpaoreans have, most of which comes from so-called Victorian values (AKA Asian values as known by our garmen). Whatever hangups the japanese have about being naked probably comes from the American christian and other Jesuits Priest when they landed in Japan. Anyway, people just walk about naked everywhere in the locker room. Its quite like the scene in waterboys… basically the slim, boyish guys, but more toned. The showers is the open type with showers in a line and everyone bathes naked. This will surely give Miak nose bleeds!

By the way, its not common to see anyone with those mini-brief trunks like in waterboys. I think that only happens in a swim team. Most common choice here is long tights.

(Updated 25/02: Looks like this is only because its winter and waters are colder, from what I’ve heard the skimpy swim trunks are fashionable during summers. However, I am already seeing more swimmings wearing these in the pools, despite the weather).

The quick dry type towels are popular here. I don’t see much people with huge towels, like what I’ve brought. Swim cap is a must, for your information. Lastly, you can’t soap off in the showers as soap is not allowed.

Now to go the main pool, you have to wad through an almost waist deep wading area, talk about cleaning up! Now, me for all the preparedness was still expecting a Choa Chu Kang swimming pool scene and, boy, was I wrong! I was taken aback and like, stressed.. really.

I decided, instead, to sit down at one big corner, pretending that I needed to warm-up and observe (not cruise okay, I wasn’t within the official cruising times yet!). I guess because this is only 50 metres pool in town, everyone who comes to swim is pretty serious about it. Everyone takes the time to warm up and stretch before swimming. Also there are warm dipping pools and rooms, in case it gets too cold for you. The cement floor of the indoor pool is pleasantly warm, lying down, one can easily fall asleep.

Lap Swimming

(Updated 25/02: found out that they adopted this from American-style lap swimming, so its not a Japanese invention or fetish!)

Now, back to the pool. All the lanes are marked with the lane markers, just like in competition and guess what, everyone swims within their own lanes in a clock-wise direction. That’s right, you swim inline clockwise! This really began to stess me… so where do they get in and out of the pool? Which lanes are you allowed to use? Argghh stress!

After awhile, I noticed that each lane are marked with coloured flags. The 4 extreme outer lanes are for weak/slow swimmers. The next 2 are for moderate swimmers and the center 2 are for fast swimmers. Whoah… this really solves the problem of irritating slow swimmer hogging the middle lanes. Wish we could do that in Singapore too!

So, I’ve got more or less a hint of how things works, but I had to make sure, so that I don’t get weird stares, you know. I went up to the lifeguard counter (both guys and gals). By the way, their life guards are like young maybe below 30s and there’s lots of them (again Miak dream cums through). I suspect that they’re probably in some swim team and doing this as part of their duties. They are constantly running around talk to swimmers to see if they need help or maybe advising to go to the 25 metres pool instead.

Back to the lifeguard… “Eigo ga hanasemasu ka?”.. The cute boyish life guard replied (not so confidently): “Eigo… ga… hanasemasu”. To make long story short, I manage to know with a combination of hand signals and his kindergarten English, that you start swimming from one end, but you should complete the entire 2×50 metres, you cannot stop at the other end (simply causes it’s a deep end also!).

So off.. I go… “chotto matte!”, the female life guard called out, then pointed at my watch. No watch in pool? I think the Japanese would prefer everyone to swim naked if they can, if not for it being a mixed pool! How to do my timings half-blind? Sigh… I just have to swim and forget about timings for this 6 months.

Stressful swims

Swimming in these lap methods can be quite stressful. Its easy at first because you are still fresh and not tired. But you must constantly be aware when your mind drift off and you start to slow down, you may be slowing others down behind you. What more, I chose the lane for moderate speed swimmers. Its not really that bad, because you can look for long enough empty distances between swimmers to start your swim. But if you turn at 50 metres and suddenly realise that there is another swimmer right behind you and have caught up with you, you try to swim faster to give youself distance.

So there’s this guy who swims quite faster, so for the life of me, I don’t know why he don’t wait for a bigger gap in front of him before swimming. I almost knocked into him as I turn at the 50 metres mark and stressed out on the other 50 metres trying to put some distance between us. I had to stop when I reach the 100 m mark to let him swim pass me. In the first place, he should be swimming in the fast lanes!!

Oh yeah, the fitness (ie lean toned waterboys) level of the swimmers spreads outwards from the center to outer lanes of the pool. With the less lean toned (or less fit lah) one at the outer edge.