312. The Pool
David Hearn competed in three Olympic Games in canoe slalom. He won at the highest level of competitive water navigation that exists on Earth. He is, by the standards of his sport, elite.
He was arrested this week for vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The Reflecting Pool is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It is approximately two thousand feet long and eighteen inches deep. It reflects the Lincoln Memorial. That is its only job. The Lincoln Memorial has been very cooperative about this. The pool has held up its end for over a hundred years.
(It is worth noting that the Reflecting Pool contains water. David Hearn has spent his career in water. There is a relationship there. I am not certain what it means. I am only noting that it exists.)
Donald Trump announced this week that the individuals arrested for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool would spend "years in jail." This is a significant amount of time. The Reflecting Pool has been standing since 1923. It was vandalized. It is still there. The math, from the pool's perspective, seems acceptable.
The Reflecting Pool may also need to be drained for repairs. The pool has held water since 1923. It will now have its water removed because of what happened to it. David Hearn has spent his career learning to work with water. He is now responsible for an outcome in which the water leaves.
A second man was also detained. The news did not say whether he also competed in canoe slalom. The Reflecting Pool did not comment.
David Hearn's Olympic career reflects a man who understood water at a very high level. The Reflecting Pool reflects the Lincoln Memorial. This is a considerable amount of reflection for one stretch of the National Mall.
The Lincoln Memorial is 19 feet tall. The Reflecting Pool is 18 inches deep. These are the two bodies involved in this incident. David Hearn has now encountered both.
I have not competed in three Olympics. I have also not been arrested at the Reflecting Pool. These facts are, for now, my only advantage over David Hearn.