The Atlantic

Pools Will Test the Limits of Social Distancing

Yes, you’ll have to stay six feet apart even when you’re in the water.
Source: Diana Markosian / Magnum

The thwarted swimmers feel like beached mermaids. People who love swimming have been writing to Bonnie Tsui, the author of the recent swimming ode Why We Swim, to tell her how much they miss the pool, the beach, or the lake, now that they’re quarantined.

For lots of people, swimming feels like not just a summer pastime, but a ritual that cleanses the body of temporal woes. According to researchers Tsui interviewed, when people rank the enjoyability of different forms of exercise, swimming routinely comes out on top. Water is both comforting and energizing; it clears the mind and buoys the soul. “It’s something that for me is not just the enjoyment; it’s also the tonic

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic6 min read
Florida’s Experiment With Measles
The state of Florida is trying out a new approach to measles control: No one will be forced to not get sick. Joseph Ladapo, the state’s top health official, announced this week that the six cases of the disease reported among students at an elementar
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Only One Way to Fix Air Pollution Now
It feels like a sin against the sanctitude of being alive to put a dollar value on one year of a human life. A year spent living instead of dead is obviously priceless, beyond the measure of something so unprofound as money. But it gets a price tag i
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies

Related Books & Audiobooks