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 Atlantic5 min readAmerican Government
What Nikki Haley Is Trying to Prove
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Nikki Haley faces terrible odds in her home state of
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
The Atlantic3 min read
They Rode the Rails, Made Friends, and Fell Out of Love With America
The open road is the great American literary device. Whether the example is Jack Kerouac or Tracy Chapman, the national canon is full of travel tales that observe America’s idiosyncrasies and inequalities, its dark corners and lost wanderers, but ult

Related Books & Audiobooks