If you are a swimmer, a regular at water exercise class, or a bad-back person who depends on pool water as the only surroundings in which the pain reliably lets go, then the pandemic has probably taken that away from you too. Unless you have a pool in your backyard—in which case we less fortunate swimmers wish you well while hating you a little—you lost your place of respite in March: no public pools, no clubs, no YMCAs. Maybe you’re able to stride around your neighborhood or ride a bike: Grateful, yes, but it’s not the same.

Your shoulders are sad. Your arms want to pull through water, because this feeling is like nothing else, and for many of us somewhat