The Pool Rule

On Saturday we went swimming.  And by ‘we’  I really mean my husband & our daughters.  I just sat on the bleachers and watched.  It’s not that I don’t like to swim; even with my wacky ear, I do.  And our community pool is nice.  The reason I skipped swimming is because of a certain pool policy.  What I call The Pool Rule.  The Pool Rule states that everyone w/ chin-length hair or longer MUST WEAR A SWIM CAP.

This woman likes her swim cap. I do not like mine.

When I first learned of The Pool Rule, I tried to be a good sport.  Swim caps help prevent hair from clogging the pool’s filter, keeping the pool working and limiting nastiness for the unfortunate soul having to clean.  I didn’t argue.  Even though my only option at the time was to borrow a swim cap from the Lost & Found, and the only one that fit was plastic and had ear flaps.  Getting it on nearly pulled half the hair from my head.  I put on that cap!  My kids wanted to swim with their momma and I wasn’t going to disappoint my husband.  But I vowed that next time  – if there were a next time – I’d bring $$ to buy my own.

The next visit, I remembered my swim cap money.  YOU KNOW I DID.  I bought a stretchy spandex number from the pool office, in black to match my swimsuit.  I put it on, got in the water and it promptly fell off.  I put it back on, dove underwater and it came off again.  I put it back on again.  And again.  I spent half the swim session retrieving my cap from the pool floor.  But I didn’t give up!  Even though the swim cap wouldn’t stay on, I wore it the next time, and the next.  Until finally one Saturday I’d had enough.  I was done dealing with the indignity of that useless cap and said NO MORE.  So now I sit & watch.

The Pool Rule may make sense in theory, but when I spend half my time in the pool retrieving a swim cap and replacing it what exactly is it accomplishing?  I’m losing far more hair in the pool doing the ON-OFF-ON-OFF routine than I ever would going without.  And if the ultimate goal is to minimize hair in the filter, why stop at swim caps?  Wouldn’t swim SHIRTS be applicable too?

Swim shirt not optional

Until then I will be on the bleachers.

0 thoughts on “The Pool Rule

  1. im with you on the rules….takes all the fun out of the pool. maybe they could require you to have your hair in a ponytail holder thing. sorry that you had to miss the floating feeling and the dolphin dives. umm i love the feeling of water all over and the smell of cholrine. mostly the weightlessness.

    1. Joan, I SO wish I could simply pin my hair up and be done with it. I can appreciate the thought behind the rule, but the practical reality (for me at least) is – it ain’t working! I too LOVE the feeling of freedom & weightlessness swimming imparts. It stinks not being able to enjoy myself wholeheartedly in the pool.

  2. The residents at my work still use those cute ones with the chin strap and little flowers… I’ll find out where they get them…

  3. I’ve never heard of such a thing! And really, are people with long hair losing any more hair than people with short cuts? Dumb. If you pull your hair on top of your head into a bun, that’s technically less than chin-length, right? Win!

    I’m going to go throw up from that hair shirt now.

    1. Yeah – I’ve tried that (pinning it up). No go. I even got so desperate I thought, well Gee, maybe I should just cut my hair, but then I sobered up.

      You know some women really love hairy men. But even they might feel that hair shirt is of biblical proportions.

    1. You actually made me LAUGH OUT LOUD with that knee high comment.

      Maybe I should just go one further and show up with a full pair of pantyhose on my head, the legs dangling to each side.

    1. Yeah no joke. When I googled that photo there were other pix of men who’d waxed numbers and even shapes (like a heart) on their backs. *shudder*

      PS: my kids are watching bugs bunny and he JUST put on a swim cap – too funny.

  4. Whoa!! That’s a new one! I’ve never come across a rule like that…. I don’t think I’d be a very good sport about it at all. I hate the feel of stuff on my head when I’m underwater.
    (I routinely ‘forget’ my hood when I’m diving. I know it’s cold here in NZ, and I know the hood minimizes heat loss, but I prefer to be a little chilly.)

  5. I’ve never heard of that rule at any pool we’ve been to. I thought the pool rule was don’t pee in it. Gorrilla man should have to wear a wetsuit. Maybe you could sew an elastic strip into your swim cap to act as a chin strap so it stays on. See us men CAN have good ideas 🙂

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