Kiyomi Kishaba
Opinion Editor
At 5:45 a.m. on Wednesdays, the Names athletic facility overflows.Â
The small, oddly circular, facility is filled with athletes before the sun rises. I am one of those athletes, fighting past tall basketball players to reach those 40 pound dumbbells and waddling with them in hand to find a piece of limited floor space. With my entire swim team, the basketball team, and occasionally rowers sweating through yet another morning workout, the Names gym is too small to fit us all.
I believe we need another athletic facility dedicated for athletes, weight lifting classes, and other large groups. The Names gym has character, but stuffing three athletic teams in there at once leaves no room for other students.Â
When I went to workout alone last spring, my schedule generally forced me to lift around the same time as the football team. I have nothing against football players, but boy are they loud. And quite numerous. Despite the recent renovation doubling the number of weight racks, all but two were filled.Â
I shimmied myself into one at the end, busying myself with raising the bar to squatting height. I had headphones on to ignore the sweaty gun show occuring around me, but to no avail. The football team is very supportive of each other, so much so that every rep on chest press from one athlete was met with encouraging screams from six others.Â
Don’t misunderstand me; I want the football team to scream at each other, and chest bump in the middle of their workouts. I hope every athletic team greets teammates’ achievements with chaotic yelling, but I personally prefer not to hear it while attempting to do my own lift. A separate athletic facility, perhaps with soundproof walls, would be a lovely solution to that problem.
The weight lifting PE class also creates a problem for students. During these classes, the gym is closed. This can be a real inconvenience for students who are busy, which are all of them, and have that specific time available to exercise. If weight lifting classes were held in another gym, where groups reserved times so as not to encroach on others, this issue would be solved.Â
I recognize the impossibility of this happening early enough for myself or any of my current teammates to reap any benefit, but perhaps we can make the lives of future Lutes less crowded. For now, our sweat will continue to coexist too close together at 5:45 in the morning.
