I had been a member of the White Plains Y since 1983. My office is next door and I live in White Plains. I’ve been swimming at the Rye Y since the White Plains pool closed a couple years ago. I joined here to keep using the pool but continued using the Fitness Center at the White Plains Y until they closed.
What works for me, because I have my own business, is to swim at lunchtime. That’s an extra hour and one half out of my day now. I was spoiled in White Plains, but I love the pool here. The lanes are wide, it’s calm, the temperature is consistent. No other place accessible to me has a pool the size of the Y. I can’t replicate the experience anywhere else. I could go to LifeTime but that isn’t my style. I’m a Y person. And it isn’t for serious swimmers – the large pool there only has three lanes.
I swim two, sometimes three times a week. I’m in the pool about 35 minutes for a rigorous workout. Then two days a week I try to work out upstairs. One day I’ll do core work in the Fitness Center plus I use the two little rooms. I’ll use the equipment, the jump ropes the rowing machine and the bands. And the other day I’m here I’ll use the machines and the free weights. Since my children are out of the house, sometimes I arrive here after work and exercise from 5 to 7. I need to stay fit for skiing and gardening, my volunteer work.
I’m addicted to swimming. If I don’t swim my body tenses up. It’s difficult when I travel and can’t swim. I’m a lawyer and do mostly real estate work – but don’t try to schedule a closing during swim time! I will work my life’s schedule around swimming!
I can’t remember not swimming. In third grade I joined the swim team. I attended William and Mary as an undergraduate in the late 60s and it had mandatory swimming. It was a true liberal arts school. Among the required curriculum were four semesters of P.E. –individual sports, a team sport and swimming. And that helped me. Later in life, I would swim just for relaxation.
When I came to Westchester in 1972, I would always find a place to swim. The ideal place is the Y. It’s accessible. We don’t belong to private clubs. I don’t believe in private clubs. We were very fortunate that my parents were able to buy some waterfront property on the eastern end of Long Island in the 60s. I’ve always summered there, in the water practically every day, and that continues. I taught my sister to swim and my children and my niece and nephew and now my niece’s children.
The staff here is very knowledgeable and very helpful. And it’s convenient because of the parking and the hours. I’m very comfortable here.
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