David V. Forrest, M.D.

I’ve been coming here for a while but was only swimming on weekends because I work in New York. With COVID, I am working more remotely from home so I come to the Y almost every day to swim. It has been very good. I’m very impressed with the Y; the facilities are wonderful and the recovery from the flood was amazing. The pool is better than ever. I even got my grandson to join. He wanted to learn how to do a racing turn and he came here and learned how to do it.

I would like to praise the people of the Y. Like Fred at the front desk. Since I swim I see mostly lifeguards. And they are really nice – Sharyon, who laughs at my Dad jokes, Jessica, Olivia, Jinsap, Amelia, Manny, all of them. They talk to me. I’m a psychiatrist so people tend to tell me their stories. It’s nice to connect to young people, the next generation. They are exemplary staff.

I’m an amateur artist and belong to the Society of Illustrators in New York. Because I started carrying their bag with my towels, I’ve gotten to know a couple other artists. One is a member, Michael Thornton Smith. He is a professional and delightful. The other artist who surprised me is a staff member, Stan Coleman. I would say hello to him when he checked us in during COVID. One day I came in and he saw my bag and we started talking about art. I had no idea he is so talented. For him, it is more than an avocation. His art is fabulous – paintings and photographs of people who ride the subway and live underground.

There are so many interesting characters here. There is a trio of bodybuilding guys – all giant guys in their 70s, who really tear up the pool. When I see people who look healthy at an older age, I always ask what their secrets are. What do they eat? They said “Don’t eat anything white.” Another one was “if it tastes good, don’t eat it.” These guys are funny. There are a few more swimmers I want to mention - Charlie, Chris, Jeannie, Rob, who plays the accordion, Noah and Dorinne. Those are just some of the people I’ve met.