very cold, windy and gorgeous, not too shabby

I swam in the special pool at UC that the little people don't usually get to use. There is a water polo meet in my regular pool. How's come they don't use the fancy new pool for a water polo meet? Why is the new pool so elite and exclusive?  It is not used most of the time.

I'll tell ya this: the Legends pool is fucking freezing. I know lots of swim teams work out in colder water. I don't know the reasons for this.  My 'regular' pool is warmer. It is chilly in Berkeley today and the pool I just swam in was frigid. My body is as cold, maybe even colder, than I might have felt on a deeply frigid Minnesota winter's day. My body is cold all the way through. My toes like icicles. My hands, arms, legs:  chilled frozen all the way through.

Truth told, I never got this cold in frigid MN winter because I dressed appropriately. Alwys wool socks, always good and warm boots, always down jackets, always a hat.

As I did my last lap, I decided I would not go up the hill so I could take a shower at UC. Mere ordinary paying folks can't use the showers at the special Legends pool.

I don't really mind that UC just spent a lot of alumni money to build a special pool for some elite swimmers. Divers must definitely be elite because this new pool has a competitive diving capacity.  What I mind is the mystery, the air of privilege and entitlement but not knowing why. I ask staff at the pool and sports rec center regularly "what's the deal with Legends?" and no one knows.

It wsan't just very cold water and chilly air. There is a not-common strong wind today.

On the upside, I overheard a couple male swimmers talking about how the Legends pool has a great view. AT that moment, all I saw was the sides of the pool and some windows for the UC building next door. But I paused at the side of the pool where the guys said that and looked all around.

There are some nice views. The Campanile Tower pops up when I look North East from in the pool.And the top hills of the campus and even a bit of the Berkeley hills are visible from one side of the pool. Looking west, not much to see, especially today. The sun was dazzling today, all over town but looking west, of course, the sun was starting to set just beyond the golden gate. I can't see the gate from the Pacific Ocean into SF Bay from the pool but I can see the golden sunlight. It was almost blinding today.

For some reason, I especially love to swim when the sun is quite bright. I love it when I can barely see anything because the light, somewhat paradoxically, is blinding me.

Cold but gorgeous. Not too shabby.