(This article originally appeared in August, 2007 edition of Inside East Sacramento.)

Nearly 40 years ago, I swam in my last competitive meet at age 13 or maybe 14. My team's 15-18 boys free relay squad was one swimmer short, so I moved up an age group and entered my fifth event of the day.

I got lapped, finished last on my leg and fainted while exiting the pool. My team got its points, though, as the third-place team in a three-team race.

Like striking out to end a Little League game or getting lost on Mt. Diablo as a Cub Scout, my swimming ordeal is among several less-than-stellar, but still vivid moments from my youth.

More successful, young-life memories linger, too. But my fainting spell has been on my mind recently because I've begun to swim again. And now I wonder why it's taken so long to get back into the pool.

Nearly 25 years ago, after a few years of golf, adult softball leagues and weight gain, I began long-distance running. And until five months ago, it was the only consistent aerobic exercise I've done as an adult.

I'd been injury-free, too, through more than 80 marathons and ultramarathons. No shinsplints, knee pain, cartilage damage, plantar fasciitis  — none of the common ailments that have turned more than one accomplished running friend into a non-runner.

Far worse conditions exist than Achilles' tendinitis, but that's what has set me back since early February. And that's why I've been visiting the Clunie Pool at McKinley Park in Sacramento during the lap swim program.

My wife and I first bought a monthly pass last year. But this summer is the first time since my childhood days of using zinc oxide as sunscreen and eating Baby Ruth candy bars as pre-race energy that I've utilized swimming as form of fitness.

Among its many benefits — rose gardens to  baseball fields, the iconic library to the running path — the swimming pool is one of McKinley Park's treasures.

As explained in a small, unassuming wall display across from the check-in counter, Clunie Pool opened in 1936 with funds donated by Florence Turton Clunie. A wealthy, social woman of her time, Clunie designated $150,000 of her will to a pet project — a state-of-the-art pool for recreational swimmers and championship meets. Swimming lessons in the pool's early years were free and recreati
onal swimming cost $.25 per day. (An adult one day swim now costs $5; A 20-swim pass costs $45.)

Clunie Pool has been renovated throughout its now 70-year tenure, but its charm and history remain. The pool is 165 feet long and 65 feet wide and it's enveloped by old brick and cement.

Adult lap swimming is available throughout the week, with the middle section of the pool roped off and for widthwise laps.

As the second-oldest of the more a dozen City of Sacramento community pools, Clunie Pool is abuzz with activity most summer evenings. Watching water aerobics lessons has comedic moments and observing lifeguards teaching small children to dive is a treat.

But that's not why I'm there. I've learned to appreciate swimming again, and it has helped counter the lingering annoyance of Achilles tendinitis.

 have many friends who are accomplished multisport athletes, and as a sportswriter I've reported on events like the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon for nearly 30 years, so I understand and appreciate the running abilities of great endurance athletes.

But now I have a new appreciation for endurance swimmers. Good swimmers (like my wife,) effortlessly glide across the water. As the adage goes while watching most skilled athletes in any sport, "they make it look easy."

I'm not quite there, but I'm having fun while also hoping the recent words of a friend are true.

When I mentioned that I've begun to swim again, my friend said the workouts will eventually lengthen and tone my body. Since I haven't swum like this since I was teenager, it's taken awhile to remember breathing techniques and to efficiently coordinate kicking and pulling. I'm sure I'd laugh at myself if I viewed a video of my efforts. My swim stroke is awkward, and I complete half as many as laps as my wife finishes during a 30-minute swim.

But if I've done the math correctly, completing about 80 laps of the width of the Clunie Pool will equal one mile of swimming. And that's the goal.

McKinley Park's historic pool closes for the season after the Labor Day weekend. I'm fairly certain fainting is not likely. But I'll probably reminisce more about competing on swim teams 40 years ago and I'll likely finish a few more laps.