Photo Credit: Sam Amberchan

Sophomores Maggie Asher and Katie Nealis on the pool deck before practice goofing around.

It’s 7:30 a.m. on a Wednesday and your alarm clock goes off. Groaning, you roll over and shut it off and crawl off to the bathroom. You contemplate on whether to follow through on your commitment or not even as you slip into your suit and sweats. As you place your key into the ignition, you finally surrender to it:

You’re going to morning swim practice.

It’s swim season, filled with morning, afternoon, and weekend practices, races to the showers before everyone uses up the hot water, and the agony of when your goggles rip off when you dive. But while it changes from day to day – different practice set, different levels of tiredness – one thing stays constant:

The smell of chlorine that never. Washes. Off.

The M-A swimming pool is infused with different types of disinfectants and sanitizers, along with some stuff named chlorine gas or whatever, and infused at the highest level possible that doesn’t kill the 110+ swimmers that occupy the pool each day. Each swimmer gets a healthy dosage of the chlorine mixture, their skin absorbing some of it, and some accidentally swallowing it due to the constant splashing…or when they want to spit on their friends.

Now, the level of chlorine serves a purpose. It keeps the pool look oh so clear and clean. Unlike some pools, we can actually see for more than two feet in front of us (yeah,  I’m looking at you, Mills). But that’s only possible because of the intense amount of chlorine pumped into the water. In fact, the chlorine is so intense that it’s been dubbed “swimmer’s perfume.” So whenever you walk into a classroom of yours and feel a wave of chlorine wash over you, you know you’re in the presence of a swimmer (try not to ask them what scent they’re wearing; it might insult them – especially the guys).