Monday, October 08, 2007
Finding the action she craves
Stephanie, my teammate, is enrolled in a MS program in Library & Information Science at Pratt. When she's not in the pool, the library or the classroom, she's working to help Ladies Home Journal develop their archives. The other day, she stumbled upon this little poem about swimming and looking trim (sigh):
- From "Sing or Swim," Louise Paine Benjamin, LHJ, July 1936
The action that I've been craving has been on land. Inspired by Jose Aponte, I've been outdoors most everyday running in the neighborhood in preparation for some short NYRR races this fall. I do plan to get back in the pool before too long however (seeking to avoid the locker room ribbing of the slacker).
If you'd acquire a figure trim,
Lose no time getting in the swim.
To find the action that she craves
The modern girl cuts through the waves,
She emulates the streamline trout:
No hips! They're definitely out.
By swimming strokes her curves are placed
Where they belong -- above the waist!
"When auntie swam the old breast stroke."...
What memories those words evoke!
Long bathing skirts and stockings, too,
And bathing hats of every hue,
And ladies trying valiantly
To breast their way into the sea:
It must have done the trick at that,
For auntie surely wasn't flat.
- From "Sing or Swim," Louise Paine Benjamin, LHJ, July 1936
The action that I've been craving has been on land. Inspired by Jose Aponte, I've been outdoors most everyday running in the neighborhood in preparation for some short NYRR races this fall. I do plan to get back in the pool before too long however (seeking to avoid the locker room ribbing of the slacker).
