Has any one else experienced this? During a two day meet, the first day I felt fine, the second day I felt awful. I was wondering if air quality could be an issue or some other random thing. Its always a second day thing. Anybody else experience this? Any tips on what to do?
#1 solution - move to California, Florida or Arizona and swim outdoors year round.
#2 solution - if there's an option to NOT hang around inside the pool (e.g., a nearby gym, outdoor area, etc.) throughout the meet, do so.
#3 solution - learn what pools in your area are problematic. Some pools are much worse than others.
This is a common problem in pools and USA Swimming has had some huge problems at big meets recently (check out SwimSwam's coverage of last year's Junior Nationals at Greensboro).
i am trying to recover from the flu and this morning something in the air set off a coughing fit that forced me to leave workout after only doing half of it.
and YES i loved swimming outdoors at MVN yearround. well except on the bad smog days.
I teach swim lessons at a pool that has air problems. Unfortunately, nobody admits the problems and tries to fix it. I am afraid if I speak up more than I have done the past 2 years, they will fire me. Any suggestions?
Outdoor pool is open May-September and that's when I solely use it. But any other time of the year, I have to be indoors!
I think the air quality could definitely be an issue. This seems to be one of those widely variable things from person to person. I've heard meet reports where some people say they couldn't breathe and others say the air was fine. You may just be one of those people sensitive to air quality.
A college swimmer told me recently that her coach told the team to pee in the gutter at a meet
I'm curious how, exactly, peeing in the gutter is done.
Yeah, I'm sure people pee in the pool, but I would hope it's a heck of a lot less than 1/3 of all swimmers!
I'm curious how, exactly, peeing in the gutter is done.
Yeah, I'm sure people pee in the pool, but I would hope it's a heck of a lot less than 1/3 of all swimmers!
when I tell fellow swimmers that I don't pee in pools, I get laughed at. I can count on one hand the swimmers I know that do not pee in a pool. After almost 25 years of swimming and over 20 years of competitive swimming, that's scary!!
Thanks to pwb for posting the links. I talked to the person in charge and she will investigate what exactly is being tested at the pool I'm teaching at. Hopefully we get some answers as maintenance of the air and vent system is outsourced.
I am one who suffers in bad pool air. Agreed, Federal Way is pretty bad. Greensboro was marginal for Masters Nationals, more in the spectator areas for me, not bad on the deck. A couple of thoughts. Masters swimmers probably don't pee in the pool as much as the age group crowd. Secondly, the absolute best indoor pool I've ever encountered in terms of air quality was in Iceland, where we were required to strip, wash every body part with soap, including hair, prior to entering the pool. There were even personnel watching to ensure compliance. Draw your own conclusions here. I'm glad that this is being discussed because it can have a huge impact on performance. One must also wonder about damage to the respiratory tract.
Some articles on this topic that might help understand the issue and options
swimswam.com/.../
Here's a comment in the SwimSwam article linked above (by "Hulk Swim", not me btw):
I did some math while in Greensboro. Let’s say 1/3 of the kids peed in the pool each session- that’s conservative. Each time leaving a cup of urine. Over the course of the three day meet, that’s 2,000 cups of pee.
1) gross
2) not sure any system can handle that
In conclusion… stop pissing in the pool.
2000 cups is 125 GALLONS. That changes pool chemistry. And like "Hulk Swim" said, that 125 gallons is probably a conservative estimate.
I've noticed many changes in swimming and in pool culture since I came back to swimming regularly after a 30+ year break. What surprised me the most was how acceptable it is to pee in the pool. A college swimmer told me recently that her coach told the team to pee in the gutter at a meet instead of trying to get in and out of their tech suits. I understand the tech suit on/off issue. But it would be a lot more sanitary to pee in the shower. And it wouldn't affect the pool chemistry.
As swimmers we are the ones being affected (breathing issues, unnecessarily poor performances) by pool air quality caused by bad pool chemistry. If we are contributing to this, as seems clear from the articles pwb gave links to, we can do our part by just NOT PEEING IN THE POOL. It seems that this is one pool culture issue that should go retro, and become unacceptable again. Let's get the word out, please!
