Steve, I wasn't in Italy; however I did go to Montreal. :afraid: I agree with your post 100%! :agree: WHAT A ZOO IN THE WARM-UP POOL! I have been to several Nationals that were just as bad. 2012 in Greensboro was INSANE (as was my home Nationals at Georgia Tech, in 2010, when I was a newbie).
As a swimmer who trains on my own and ALWAYS has my own lane (thankfully!), I hate warming up in crowded pools. I have no phobias-- except warming up in a too-crowded pool where I'm afraid to get kicked and hit (which has happened often). Is there a name for that phobia? King Frog? Perhaps you can help me come up with one! :D
Need to warm up in a crowded pool? Our Scott Bay has six pieces of advice: www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php.
while i like scott, this article is horrible!
1 - all the lanes will have HORRIBLE pace and that of the slowest in the lane. typically someone over 80 doing breaststroke. granted someday i hope thats me, but all 8-10 lanes will have 3-20 people in each doing this. there i no way to do anything fast. and exactly how do i communicate with 100 others in my lane?
2 - oh do verticle kick in a lane with 100 others in it? yeah way to make a bad situation even worse. HORRIBLE tip!
3 - possibly a good tip...well if your race is a 50...maybe a 100. bad idea if its a 200. you will suffer greatly if its a 400 or 800!
4 - pick another time... great...say 6-8hrs before my race? or the night before? no difference than on deck warmup. truely not an option
5 - stand in line for 30min for 1 start and cannot be done in the warmup pool...well unless you are russian and dont care about the others in the lane you are landing on. or...you are one of the others in that lane and cringe coming into the blocks for fear of getting landed on by a russian.
6 - there is no room at the wall and none for 15min on the rope either. being friendly leaves you on the rope and not getting any warmup in. there will be more people on the rope than swimming in the middle. follow the russian that just dove on top of 5 people...let them play "icebreaker" for you and stay on there heels. you will get in a fast 50 this way.
for those going to budapest. read this. read it again. prepare to live it. italy was the worlds largest swimmeet in 2012. you are about to be in a meet that is 60% bigger.
Need to warm up in a crowded pool? Our Scott Bay has six pieces of advice: www.usms.org/.../articledisplay.php.
Great article and good tips for making the best of less than ideal conditions. Looking forward to the meet!
.well unless you are russian and dont care about the others in the lane you are landing on. or...you are one of the others in that lane and cringe coming into the blocks for fear of getting landed on by a russian.... being friendly leaves you on the rope and not getting any warmup in. there will be more people on the rope than swimming in the middle. follow the russian that just dove on top of 5 people...let them play "icebreaker" for you and stay on there heels. you will get in a fast 50 this way.
Does this apply to all Russians, a certain Russian, or just hypothetical Russians?
i was at both greensboro in 12 and montreal in 14...neither were even remotely close to what italy 2012 was. not even half.
you might think they were bad unless you were in italy. there were more men in the 100m free in italy than the entire greensboro meet! i was in heat 126 of that 10 lane pool of 262 heats. think about that. 2600 men in the 100m free. which was after the 550 men in the 200m back.
and hard to say if it was just 1 russian or several as i didnt catch a real good look at them doing dives into a lane with other trying to swim in it. saw this many times in italy and montreal. especially like the guys with paddles in a full lane. how about that pace by the person with the kickboard? oh yeah...slower than a snail. i also greatly enjoyed the guys smoking on deck from ukraine/belarus/bulgaria not exactly sure of the flag on their shirts.
Thanks for reminding me why I will never go to another FINA World's again. :afraid: Besides, after reading your post to my husband, he said, "I'll tell you one thing. If you go to another world championship meet, you'll be going alone."
I'm glad I went for the experience-- once. I enjoyed trading caps with the other swimmers and just being in that atmosphere; however, all that was actually more enjoyable than the competition itself. I prefer to warm-up Chris Stevenson style-- go straight to the blocks from the warm-up pool. (At least I think it's Chris who does this, if I remember correctly...)
My favorite part of the Montreal meet was my husband and I getting to spend time with King Frog and celebrate with him after he broke the World Record in the 200 breaststroke! :cheerleader:
For those of you who will be at the pool in the morning, my husband and I will be there to meet up with King Frog (Allen Stark) and cheer his wife, Seal Girl (Carol), on in the 800. I would love to meet you! Look for me in a white USMS t-shirt with the logo on the front.
On another subject, see those clouds building up outside? Thunderstorms are predicted to begin late tonight and continue into the morning. The high is predicted to be 65 degrees, a big drop from today!
Good luck in your races everybody!
i was at both greensboro in 12 and montreal in 14...neither were even remotely close to what italy 2012 was. not even half.
you might think they were bad unless you were in italy. there were more men in the 100m free in italy than the entire greensboro meet! i was in heat 126 of that 10 lane pool of 262 heats. think about that. 2600 men in the 100m free. which was after the 550 men in the 200m back.
and hard to say if it was just 1 russian or several as i didnt catch a real good look at them doing dives into a lane with other trying to swim in it. saw this many times in italy and montreal. especially like the guys with paddles in a full lane. how about that pace by the person with the kickboard? oh yeah...slower than a snail. i also greatly enjoyed the guys smoking on deck from ukraine/belarus/bulgaria not exactly sure of the flag on their shirts.
