I've spent a little time looking over this site
to find out how much I don't know about the
current Masters Swimming scene.
And also, what I might be able to
do to become competitive.
Something quite new seems to be races
that are only one-length of a short-course pool.
25 Yards and 25 Meters.
Where is the organization going with that ?
Will they be considered
for Top-Ten rankings ?
How did it get started ?
Old-N-Slow
Until just a handful of years ago, the pool on the Newport, RI Navy base where I swim was a 6x35-yard lap pool. (We now have a nice, new 6x25m pool.) At one time there were actually two 35-yard pools on the base. For years I tried to ascertain why in the world the Navy installed these odd distance pools. No good answers. Then, I encountered another couple of 35-yard pools on the Army base at Fort Meade Maryland. People there told me they knew of other military installations with 35-yard pools as well. There at Ft. Meade, they had cleverly set jersey barriers in the shallow end to make 25m lap lanes...which also created a good sized area for the kiddos to play in. All these pools were built in the WWII era. But the people at Ft. Meade gave me a good answer as to why the military built these odd-length pools. Initially, it was simply so that outside entities wouldn't come to them asking to use the pool for swim meets...since events swam in the odd-length pools couldn't be recognized for records, etc. That didn't work for long. By the time I got stationed on the Navy base here in Newport in 1988, when they still had only the 35-yard pools, the base hosted a youth club team, and a USMS group. Good enough for workout/practice. Still not OK for meets.
Dan
Until just a handful of years ago, the pool on the Newport, RI Navy base where I swim was a 6x35-yard lap pool. (We now have a nice, new 6x25m pool.) At one time there were actually two 35-yard pools on the base. For years I tried to ascertain why in the world the Navy installed these odd distance pools. No good answers. Then, I encountered another couple of 35-yard pools on the Army base at Fort Meade Maryland. People there told me they knew of other military installations with 35-yard pools as well. There at Ft. Meade, they had cleverly set jersey barriers in the shallow end to make 25m lap lanes...which also created a good sized area for the kiddos to play in. All these pools were built in the WWII era. But the people at Ft. Meade gave me a good answer as to why the military built these odd-length pools. Initially, it was simply so that outside entities wouldn't come to them asking to use the pool for swim meets...since events swam in the odd-length pools couldn't be recognized for records, etc. That didn't work for long. By the time I got stationed on the Navy base here in Newport in 1988, when they still had only the 35-yard pools, the base hosted a youth club team, and a USMS group. Good enough for workout/practice. Still not OK for meets.
Dan
