Swimming with the Bohemians

I started swimming last week with the Bohemians and it has been quite an experience. I’m quickly learning that in Prague it is better to approach things without any expectations. The Bohemians have morning practice Monday through Friday from 5:50 till 7:15 at a small pool in the Vinohrady neighborhood. To get there on time I have to catch the tram by my apartment at 5:17 in the morning. I initially had been a little scared to be walking around at that hour of the morning because I had imagined I would be the only one up then. However, that’s not the case because there are normally a couple women who seem to be on their way to work with me. It’s interesting to see the city at that time in the morning because you see how Prague, despite the beauty and overflow of tourists in the center, really is a working city. I get to the tram stop by the pool around 5:35, walk up two streets, and I’m at there. It would be a very easy commute, if it weren’t that early. After several minutes of waiting we are finally let in. The boys and girls locker rooms are on separate sides of the pool. Once in the locker room everyone takes off their shoes at the entrance and leaves them in a cubby hole. I’ve notice that Czech culture is very against wearing shoes inside. For instance, when I asked the coach about what to wear to their dry land session, he told me I didn’t need to bring athletic shoes because they wear socks in the gym. In the locker room there are several different colored cages big enough to fit 10 people that line the sides. At first I was confused what to do, but then I found out that each group has their own “cage” or locker that is locked while they are out swimming.

After changing we go out on the deck to a small 25 meter five lane pool. The pool is made of tile and looks like it was built in the 1920s and probably hasn’t been renovated since. The starting blocks actually look like the ones from the 1936 Olympics. My first surprise on deck was that there were no lane lines in the pool. A girl told me that once the younger group got in they would put them in. Not exactly….the other group puts a floaty lane rope down the middle of the pool to separate it in two halves for the older and younger swimmers. We got in the pool and our two lanes proceeded to swim in a reverse circle style, like we do at Kenyon, but without any lane line separating the two lanes. Most of the morning practices are a series of long distance swim mixed in with pulling and kicking. They don’t use a pace clock in the morning, but everyone keeps a quick pace.

Even though I haven’t gone to a ton of practices yet, the team has been very accepting of me. I went to an afternoon practice at the other pool, the Podoli, on Friday and after a long and painful distance practice they invited me to join them next Wednesday for an hour of “fitness” in the gym before practice, and then afterward they want me to go with them to the co-ed sauna and beers. This definitely would not be a team sponsored event back at Kenyon, but of course I’ll check it out.