May 20 2024 - Swimsuit Season

 

Isn't this the time when people open their pools?  There are a lot of pools in Grimsby.  While it is in the fruitbelt of the Niagara peninsula, it was built for commuters from the 1960s on.  There aren't any fruit trees left here, but lots of swimming pools if you look at aerial photos.  My experience with the pool is at the YMCA in aquafit.  How interesting that black is the most common swimsuit colour.  Everyone is older, so they are wearing one piece suits.  I don't see any trend swimwear in the over 70-year-old crowd.  One piece suits were the norm for decades into the 1900s when those crazy sailor-boy looks massive swimsuits from the 1800s were retired.  I do think that if you tried to swim in one of those, it might sink you.  The early one piece swimsuits would get misshapen when wet and compromise the modesty of the wearer - at a time when there were modesty enforcers.  As fibre became available - Lastex yarn was invented - suits could hold their form and started to become fashionable.  That meant that change was inevitable - the bikini was created in 1946.  Those poor modesty enforcers - what would they think?  There likely would have been even more shock with the Rudi Gernreich bathing suit, 1964 - no top.  And then the response bathing suit - hardly any bottom.  What  had to change to make all this possible?  Women who were less and less - hardly even a person there.   So the one piece elasticized suit in basic dark colours at the Y pool?  It is a full circle of fashion.    Here's that famous Neptune swimming pool in San Simeon - what would we wear? There seem to be lots of pictures of people swimming - it is open to the public for a fee - a big fee.   That would be an experience!

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Nov 20 2023 - Swimming Pools

 

I was thinking of the San Simeon swimming pool.  There are larger more spectacular pools.  The definition of a swimming pool includes human-made lagoons.  That largest one is in Egypt. It had a price tag of $5.5 billion, according to one article. I do find out that there are at least 66 million gallons of water.  It covers 23.9 acres. For North Americans, there is the Lagoon at Epperson Florida (built by Crystal Lagoons), and the Hard Rock Guitar Motel in Hollywood, Florida.  Hard Rock Guitar Hotels are the stand-out with the amazing guitar-shaped hotel structures.  There seem to be Hard Rock hotels everywhere in the world. Did you know that Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Oakville is listed as one of the largest water pools, created in 1972.  It is 1.8 acres. It is now closed for renovations/rebuild.  How much does it cost to maintain a pool?  Forbes says that on average it costs $180 a month to keep a pool in use for us normals.  For the world's largest pool?  One article says $4 million annually.  But I wonder about that, don't you? It seems low. The company making most of these "crystal lagoons" is named Crystal Lagoons.  There are projects everywhere, and especially int he U.A.E and Dubai.  The project's architecture firm is Arquitectonica, based in Miami.   And here's a view of that San Simeon pool.

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Marilyn's Photos Aug 2 2022 - Pool Rules

 

What about those pool rules?  What is the rationale for a "warm" shower before entering and after leaving the pool? That vast amount of chlorine in the pool is there to oxidize harmful bacteria and germs.  That would be E-coli.  When chlorine mixes with our body's organic matter it can create a more toxic agent.  So a shower can reduce that - it removes sweat, lotions, sunscreen, bacteria and organic matter.   Here is what we bring into a pool - is this with or without a shower?    And on exiting the pool?  Showering after swimming - the microorganisms that chlorine is attacking are in the water and they can create problems for us - skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections.  And if you swallow some water, diarrhea could also be a problem.  So showering after being in the pool is another protection against bacteria.  So the diaper policy at the YMCA pool seems most relevant now. Snugly fitted please.  That could apply to the older swimmers in aquafit as well as the little babies in the toddler end of the pool.   And our pictures today?  One of America's most famous swimming pools - San Simeon - the Hearst Castle in San Luis Obispo, California.

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