How about some reminiscing about the worst pools you ever were forced to work out and/or compete in ??
Our old pool was 20 yards long, with gutters and the deck was about 2 feet above that. The water level was always low, so it was like ocean swimming every day. There were no starting blocks and the "lane lines" were nylon cord with a plastic bobber every 3 feet or so. The water was always quite warm to accomodate the family swims and lessons that were also sharing the pool during the day.
Since goggles had not yet been invented and the only antiseptic method was chlorine (lots of it), we would have those chlorine "light halos" until the next day. The kick-boards were solid, varnished wood and they doubled as pull-buoys. There were no fins or hand paddles.
Thank the higher power of your choice that we had a GREAT coach.
Oh, did I mention that they used to beat us with knives???
Bert
I love when hotels/resorts tout their "Olympic-sized" pools. Yeah sure. I have stayed a number of times in a resort in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, that brags about their Olympic-sized pools. (The name is withheld to protect innocent pools.) At this facility, there are two indoor (one fairly large and one smaller) and one outdoor, which used to be connected to the smaller indoor pool by swimming under a glass-framed wall of windows. This made for interesting laps ... you started indoors then ended outdoors. When you came up for air on the outdoors and the wind was right, you were treated to the perfume from a cow farm next door to the resort. :eek:
The largest pool at this resort is a T-shaped pool, the leg of the T being shorter the top of the T which was longer. The long part of the pool has lanes marked on the bottom but no ropes. But the strangest thing about this pool is that it's shallow at one end and shallow at the other end, making the middle the deepest part. The pool design does not compete with the over-chlorination of the pool, though. Upon walking into the pool building, you nose automatically goes to "over chlorination" warning. God forbid if you forget your goggles! Once when I did forget 'em, my eyes burned so badly that I couldn't wear my contact lenses for a good 18 hours. I would wager that if one were to wear a new suit in that pool and work out there regularly, one could kiss it good-bye after two weeks' worth of use. And don't ask your skin as to what happened to it!
And if you want to work out, you'd better get to the pool early in the morning when the pool is not officially open. If you don't, you will then have swim an obstacle course of people who probably think you are crazy for swimming laps. Once, when I was there in the early morning, there were two other people there, husband and wife. When I got into the water (and brought my own buoy, kick board and fins), I somehow got into the un-roped middle lane between those two folks. The husband asked me to move over to allow his wife to be next to him. When they left (maybe I intimidated them), a man and his son showed up and got in. They got in all right ... in my way. I think I finished my workout by zig-zagging around them.
To give credit where it's due, the pools, along with the rooms, at this resort are spotless. And ... the food, served as a smorgasbord, is very, very good.
My wife wants to go and stay at one of the casinos in Atlantic City, NJ. At least one of them has a 25-yard lap pool with lanes, ropes and no children before 10:00 A.M. So, it's a matter of who has a decent pool. Alas! Why don't they design some hotels/resorts/whatever with us in mind for once?
I love when hotels/resorts tout their "Olympic-sized" pools. Yeah sure. I have stayed a number of times in a resort in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, that brags about their Olympic-sized pools. (The name is withheld to protect innocent pools.) At this facility, there are two indoor (one fairly large and one smaller) and one outdoor, which used to be connected to the smaller indoor pool by swimming under a glass-framed wall of windows. This made for interesting laps ... you started indoors then ended outdoors. When you came up for air on the outdoors and the wind was right, you were treated to the perfume from a cow farm next door to the resort. :eek:
The largest pool at this resort is a T-shaped pool, the leg of the T being shorter the top of the T which was longer. The long part of the pool has lanes marked on the bottom but no ropes. But the strangest thing about this pool is that it's shallow at one end and shallow at the other end, making the middle the deepest part. The pool design does not compete with the over-chlorination of the pool, though. Upon walking into the pool building, you nose automatically goes to "over chlorination" warning. God forbid if you forget your goggles! Once when I did forget 'em, my eyes burned so badly that I couldn't wear my contact lenses for a good 18 hours. I would wager that if one were to wear a new suit in that pool and work out there regularly, one could kiss it good-bye after two weeks' worth of use. And don't ask your skin as to what happened to it!
And if you want to work out, you'd better get to the pool early in the morning when the pool is not officially open. If you don't, you will then have swim an obstacle course of people who probably think you are crazy for swimming laps. Once, when I was there in the early morning, there were two other people there, husband and wife. When I got into the water (and brought my own buoy, kick board and fins), I somehow got into the un-roped middle lane between those two folks. The husband asked me to move over to allow his wife to be next to him. When they left (maybe I intimidated them), a man and his son showed up and got in. They got in all right ... in my way. I think I finished my workout by zig-zagging around them.
To give credit where it's due, the pools, along with the rooms, at this resort are spotless. And ... the food, served as a smorgasbord, is very, very good.
My wife wants to go and stay at one of the casinos in Atlantic City, NJ. At least one of them has a 25-yard lap pool with lanes, ropes and no children before 10:00 A.M. So, it's a matter of who has a decent pool. Alas! Why don't they design some hotels/resorts/whatever with us in mind for once?
