The more fortunate who live far away simply drive themselves or are driven there. My one other friend lives in Ataşehir, another lives in Maltepe and I myself live somewhere near Erenköy. As much as I would love to come to this place often, I will have to settle for a weekly visit as everything depends on whether my friend will be able to drive me there or whether my husband doesn’t need to drive to work so that I can “kidnap” the car. But why do we ladies bother ourselves to be there? What is so special about this place?I personally have been looking for a place such as this for ages. Frankly speaking, I have been battling with weight problems for a long time. I still do. I used to walk in the walking park near my area, but after some time, I got bored of doing the same thing almost every day. Later, I bought myself a bicycle, but somehow once the rainy season started, I paused for some time, though with every intention of continuing. Since swimming is the only other sport that I love, I had been looking left and right for the perfect place to go -- perfect, as in for someone more conservative like me. I do not swim with people of the other gender who are not part of my family. Among strangers, I prefer to swim with my own gender. It is more comfortable for me that way.
But where to find such a place? There is a hotel quite near our area that offers sports and pool membership facilities to the public where the females can swim at certain times different from men, on a yearly membership basis. Unfortunately, the problem with such membership is that as a mother, I may not be able to use the facilities as often as I would like as the kids are usually sick during wintertime, and in summer, who needs the pool when we can use the pool at the family’s summer house? That is basically almost six months of waste if I applied for membership there. The membership also does not come cheap. I would not be able to get value for my money. And so, I was looking and scouting for my dream place to swim until the mom of my daughter’s classmate told me about this place.
This is a place where ladies are able to go to the gym, swim in the pool, with swimming lessons ready for those who do not know how to swim and sweat out all the toxins in the steam room and sauna. Naturally, there are a few membership packages. I chose the package where I pay for 15 entries, and those entries are valid for a year. If I use all my entry passes, I can buy more entries. And logically, any sane person can easily finish 15 sessions within 365 days, right? That is indeed more practical for me, as well as more affordable, too. Furthermore, I can bring a guest with me whenever I wish, which will be deducted from my account. And for moms with small kids, they can come and exercise comfortably while leaving their kids at the childcare building outside the sports center. That way, the kids will be looked after by competent staff while mom can get healthy in peace. Isn’t that great?
Let’s face it. We live in a city with a variety of variables. We live in a society where people have different lifestyles. We live in a society where each of us has certain needs. Exercise wise, we cannot assume that a person who wears shorts and sleeveless t-shirts is comfortable exercising with the opposite sex. Maybe he or she is, maybe he or she isn’t. Likewise, it is also not fair to come to the conclusion that a person who covers every part of her body with clothing except for her eyes feels no need to exercise. These are some of the basic assumptions that bind our society to a static position. Indeed, some people have no problem exercising with the opposite sex. Others see it as a problem. For so many years, sport centers have focused more on the liberal parts of society, limiting the access of the other group to the same opportunities. Even though I am seeing more and more gym centers trying to cater to the needs of the more conservative sector recently, the numbers are still low. The existence of sports centers with all sports facilities under one roof is quite rare. And why pay a ridiculous amount of money just for the gym when you can pay almost the same amount of money for other facilities all in the same place?
I am not saying that no effort is made. Take, for instance, the Kartal Municipality. The municipality has provided a pool for ladies at certain times of the day, which is perfect for more conservative women. Nonetheless, the place is far from my home, almost as far as the sports center where I am going to now. Moreover, one has to go there constantly or somebody else waiting in line will take that person’s place. Such a system I personally think is not for me since I can exercise only whenever time allows. I am always on a tight schedule, as many moms are. Okyanus Sports Center in Ümraniye, though quite far, offers the things I need. I can enjoy keeping myself healthy by using all the available facilities under one roof. I doubt many ladies will disagree with me when I say that this Okyanus Sports Center is a godsend for people like me. It is such a pity that a sports center such as this is a rare gem in the big pond of İstanbul. People tend to forget that no matter how one is clothed, the desire to be healthy and fit will always be within oneself.
Forget prejudice, this is money in the making. If I were rich, I would definitely open more Okyanus Sports Centers in locations much more strategic and accessible to clients because I know there will always be a great demand for it. We should not have forgotten the basic economics of supply and demand. There is much demand, but where is our supply? Hear, hear. I plead my case.
