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
Parents
Former Member
Worst pool I have seen was the one I started swimming in. This one was so bad it was condemned. The water was fairly well maintained for the era so it was run well, but here are the features.
1. 2 1/2 deep on the shallow end.
2. Diving board had a square hole cut in the ceiling and a luxirous 6 foot depth to recover from the dive in.
3. Fortunately it was rectangular and not trapezoida.It had 4 lanes which were wide enough to allow circle swimming. But lanes 1 and 4 had metal rings every 2 feet the whole length of the wall. These metal ring stuck out of the wall about 4 inches, and were about 6 inches above the water. I still have the scars on my arms from run-ins with those rings.
I think it is those rings that make this pool a worthy addition to this thread. The rumor on the team was that the coach had them installed to make sure we recovered with high elbows. But I think they were put in before his time.
Worst pool I have seen was the one I started swimming in. This one was so bad it was condemned. The water was fairly well maintained for the era so it was run well, but here are the features.
1. 2 1/2 deep on the shallow end.
2. Diving board had a square hole cut in the ceiling and a luxirous 6 foot depth to recover from the dive in.
3. Fortunately it was rectangular and not trapezoida.It had 4 lanes which were wide enough to allow circle swimming. But lanes 1 and 4 had metal rings every 2 feet the whole length of the wall. These metal ring stuck out of the wall about 4 inches, and were about 6 inches above the water. I still have the scars on my arms from run-ins with those rings.
I think it is those rings that make this pool a worthy addition to this thread. The rumor on the team was that the coach had them installed to make sure we recovered with high elbows. But I think they were put in before his time.
