Explore the Archives
A Journal of the Plague Year Arizona Collection Australia Boston Bronx Community College New York Brooklyn College New York Canada Las Americas Lockdown Staten Island New Orleans Oral Histories Philippines Sacramento Community Based Organizations Southwest Stories Teaching the Pandemic The City College of New York

Collected Item: “D.C. Kept Swimming Open During the Pandemic. It May Have Saved Me.”

Give your story a title.

D.C. Kept Swimming Open During the Pandemic. It May Have Saved Me.

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

Text story / personal narrative

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

This is a story I wrote in Washington, D.C. in January 2021, during the pandemic, and in the immediate aftermath of the January 9 attack on the US Capitol. I had taken up swimming during the pandemic because the city happened to keep some pools open for lap swimming. This new activity brought me solace and comfort during a very difficult time for our city, our nation, and for me personally. This story captures all of this and distills it into a single poignant and emotional moment of solitude and togetherness at the end of the story.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#DCstories #pandemicstories #swimming #WashingtonDC #movement

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

Amanda M. Wilson

Give this story a date.

2021-01-14
Click here to view the corresponding item.