Use your noodle

   A friend was bemoaning the hassle of taking his kids to the pool. Towels, swim rings, snacks, sunscreen. And on top of all that, three noodles flopping around.
Oh, I thought, those must be those big Styrofoam cylinders I saw at Wal-Mart. And I was so thankful they hadn’t been invented until my kids were too old to use them. I’m sure they would have made swimming less pleasant for me, too.
I swim twice a week at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center. I’ve been aware of their senior water aerobics class, but have always preferred to just swim. But the other day, I thought I’d add a splash of spice to my life and see what was going on in the pool next door.

   I joined 20 silver-haired swimmers in a heated pool. I asked a gentleman next to me if he came often. Before he could answer, one of his buddies jibed, “He’s on the Board of Governors. Be careful what you say to him.”

   “Well,” I said, “I’m a newspaper columnist, so he needs to be careful what he says to me.”

   After I established a level playing field, Bill McHutchison fessed up that he wasn’t on a board, but had lobbied for an extra pool for swimming instruction before the center was built. The county approved his proposal and is now building a similar pool at the Bethesda Senior Center. Just shows what can happen when citizens get involved.

   The instructor, Linda Dykema, stopped our talking and started our warm-up. Dykema started swimming therapy 23 years ago when she couldn’t walk for exercise, and has been conducting water aerobics classes ever since. 

   “Water has so many properties,” Dykema said. “Even if people can’t physically do all the exercises, water massages and stimulates them.”

   Before long Dykema had us gyrating our arms and legs to the 60’s classic “Locomotion.” A country and western tune kept us in step as we grapevined across the floor of the pool. The she asked, “Do you want to work off the sides of the pool or use your noodles?”

   “Noodles!” was the unanimous cry.

   She threw noodles—noodles?— into the water, played some Latin music and told us keep our hands in the air and ride the noodle like a bike. I felt like I’d been beamed into a Roadrunner cartoon.

   Then we twisted our noodles into pretzels and used them as weights by pushing them into the water. What a workout! For our grand finale and cooling down session, Dykema played a waltz while we lay back on our noodles and danced a horizontal ballet. A rather plie-zing experience!

   With the holidays coming up, I know I’ll be eating more than I should and putting on some pounds. But not to worry. If I want to get rid of the weight, all I have to do is use my noodle!


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