March 18, 2010
Swimming in Singapore
For a country with a panoply of rules and regulations, I am abhorred by the chaos that exists in my local community swimming pool. Usually I swim during off-peak hours when most people are at work. Yesterday, I made a big mistake and visited the pool during peak time. Let me enumerate my horror:
1) Back in my hometown of small Ladner, the swimming lanes for circuit swimming are marked with floating plastic barriers. Here in Clementi Swimming Pool, lanes are drawn on the bottom of the pool. So the lane boundaries all depend on the swimmer’s perception and eyesight. Needless to say, swimmers do not abide to any boundaries.
2) In Ladner, there is a swimming code of conduct. We swim on the right side of the lane so that swimmers do not swim into one another. In Clementi, there is no traffic control. People swim on the right side, on the left side, basically wherever there is free space. I had, on more than one occasion, nearly swam head first into a fellow swimmer. Luckily opposing water currents gave me early detection to quickly cut left (or right) to avoid a head on collision.
3) In Ladner, if you wanted to go to the other end of the pool, the code of conduct says that you should get out and walk to other side (unless the pool was near empty). Yesterday, I saw a man swim diagonally from one end of the pool to the other, in the middle of an already chaotic swimming pool.
Maybe I am just not local enough to understand the Singapore swimming code of conduct. Just like only local Chinese would know how to drive in China. Anyways, from now on, I vow to only swim during off-peak hours.
