Adjectives
unaware or not noticing something
What is oblivious?
The swimmer with beginning stage dementia
Who is Alice?
We are restored to our old youthful selves
What is below?
Identity is a big theme in The Swimmers - both individual and this other kind:
What is communal?
strong love, loyalty, or commitment to a person or cause
What is devotion?
quieted or less intense, as if covered or blocked
What is muffled?
"Do not ask for her autograph. She is our Garbo"
Who is "the Olympian?"
Life is complicated
What is above?
Because our lives are so busy, it can be beneficial to develop these - regular practices to make our days more efficient.
What are routines?
a mental condition involving memory loss and cognitive decline
What is dementia?
shared by a group or community
What is communal?
They are natural born athletes with both rhythm and speed and have an uncanny feel for the water
Who are the fast-laners? or Who are the swimmers in the fast lane?
Responsibilities to family and work
What is above?
Another theme in The Swimmers is how this can impact our daily lives, routines, and identity:
What is memory?
one complete length of a swimming pool
What is a lap?
strangely familiar, but unsettling
Swimming eliminates distraction, so swimmers often have these, realizations of thought.
What are epiphanies?
Outsiders don't understand why we love it
Below
The swimmers have their own rules. These are not written down, but as members of the group, they understand that the rules are:
What is unspoken?
a story that spreads from person to person, often without evidence
What is a rumor?
compulsive, driven by an unhealthy or abnormal condition
What is pathological?
This word is often used to describe what you do with Netflix, but in the swimmers, it is used to describe swimmers who begin very ambitious and extreme, but then quit quickly.
What is binge or the bingers?
The transition place in between, where rules and identities are not as clear
What is the locker room?
Three people in Part I are, technically, Below with the swimmers, we can INFER that the swimmers think of them as outsiders. Name 2.
Who are the lifeguard, the Aquatics commissioner, and/or Stu, the commissoner's brother
an unexpected meeting or experience with something
What is an encounter?