Unrequited (Pool) Love
- Feb 27
- 2 min read
28 February 2026
Given the massive sun exposure I’ve had over my life, from swimming & lifeguarding as I grew up, to a quarter of century living between Texas and Arizona, it’s a bit surprising I haven’t had more “suspicious growths” … but, over the years of periodic skin checks, I’ve been remarkably problem-free.
Which makes me inexperienced when it comes to what happens when the dermatologist does remove something for further investigation.
Which means I wasn’t aware that the couple of stitches in my upper back after a removal a couple of weeks ago would mean I would be out of the water for two weeks.
Which means that I was a naïve idiot to schedule said derm appointment a couple of days before I left for a two week (primarily) business / (a little) fun trip to India.
Which means I missed swimming in five new pools, each of them with their own attractions:
The reputed-to-be 47-meter-long outdoor beauty above the greenery at Mumbai’s Taj The Trees hotel
The sleek 25-meter-long also outdoor gem at the Trident Hyderabad
The fun, semi-circular outdoor pool at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi, Kerala. Admittedly, this one might have been a bit challenging in which to fashion a workout, but I would’ve given it the college try.
The ultra-stylish, 25-meter indoor pool also at the Kochi Grand Hyatt … which heartbreakingly had a digital pace clock
And the (much smaller) shades-of-Hearst, outdoor circular pool at Mumbai’s ITC Maratha hotel
… not to mention the three 50-meter swim stadia that I had my eyes on (digitally) in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. I didn’t torture myself further by going to view those.
India is a country I have traveled to many times since 2003, but it’s been nine years since I was last here. That trip had brought me to Dehli where I did manage a few brilliant workouts on the top of the Leela Palace (#275) there in their 25-yard pool …
… but I’ll have to make a return trip sooner rather than later to undo this pool tourism tragedy ... especially since both derm removals turned out to be benign!
