The mind is a curious thing. Things long-forgotten manifest themselves when you least expect them.
Just like that.
Unlike land-based athletics, you (obviously) cannot listen to music while swimming. And, it is best to clear your head of the day's worries, let it be blank--in a quasi-meditative state--to focus on extending each arm as you crawl through the waves rotating your body, and your kicks, which make you feel like you're doing ballet (!) under water. (You're also listening for irritating gas-guzzling jet skiers--because you value your limbs--who tend to come dangerously close to the buoys.)
Self-taken smartphone photo.
And it is at that point that your mind starts playing tricks on you. Perhaps, it's the underwater plants' fleeting caress or simply the disorientation of being pushed by the waves, but today all I could hear in my head was:
The Sea grows turbulent (literally--"worries") once, the Sea grows turbulent twice, the Sea grows turbulent thrice. Sea Creature, freeze on the spot!
But in Russian:
Morje volnuetsia raz, Morje volnuetsia dva, Morje volnuetsia tri. Morskaia figura, na meste zamri! (Море волнуется раз, Mоре волнуется два, Mоре волнуется три. Mорская фигура, на месте замри!)
Smartphone photo.
These lines are from a children's game--indeed, a very basic game for very small children of which I had no recollection.
And you know what? I stopped a couple of times when I hit the word, "Freeze!"