Strange curves, dips and bulges made sliding a razor over the area treacherous. Straightening, twisting, and bending my knee, I was determined to clear the landscape.Īnkles proved to be another challenge. While visibly hairless, stubble could still be felt so I couldn’t leave the knee quite yet. The knees were tough with each hair sticking out a different way among the many ridges of the knee cap. With my fingers I followed every move with the razor, making sure no stubble slowed my fingers. I lathered my right leg with a handful of shaving cream, grabbed a razor, and worked my way up my leg, all the way to the Speedo line. It was my last excuse, being a senior, to shave my legs. It was the Dickinson College men’s swim team prepping for the upcoming weekend, their 2016 Centennial Conference Championships, two days away. Men with shaving cream-covered legs, and backs for some, scattered the floor of the shower room under the falling hot water. Each shower pressure was adjusted to a point just strong enough to clear each razor of its shaving cream, but not so strong that it sprayed everywhere. This team shower was more than just a rinse off after practice. All twelve showers ran with boiling water keeping the room warm and our toes from freezing. Clouds of hot air floated by the ceiling in the windowless room.
By Alan Karickhoff, Swimming World College Intern