The worst pool in the world ?

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

habu987 — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:38:41 GMT

I was a kid when I swam at this one pool for a meet--don't remember exactly where it was, but it was in either Louisiana or Texas (we moved around a lot when I was growing up). It was a 50 meter pool attached to a gym. It looked great--pretty new at the time, lots of deck space, good locker rooms, etc. The chlorine level was far too high (my navy suit was noticeably several shades lighter by the end of the meet), the start end was about 3 feet deep, and I almost swear it had those wave machines in it! Kicked the bottom on every start and could feel myself being buffeted around by the constantly choppy water. Terrible, terrible performance at that meet.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Sojerz — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 10:14:14 GMT

Any former Jersey Wahoos swimmers out there? Back in the 80s, our coaches would always trek us up from Virginia to Philly/New Jersey for better competition. The Jersey Wahoos were exceptionally tough in those days, but we always marveled at how high their elbows would go on their butterfly (as they kicked our asses). It wasn't until we did an exchange meet with them -- where we discovered their (to my mind) 3' width cramped lanes -- that I understood the reason for it. My daughter swam for them and I joined Wahoos to swim at lunch and other off practice hours. The pools is a basic tank with narrow lanes and no gutters, but they've produced great swimmers for many years. Despite the pool form, it feels like a fast pool. They've tried to build a new 50m pool over the years, but haven't been able to do it. Practices really get it rocking. The wahoos masters team is a really dedicated very serious group, starting at 5 am with a OW (distance) focus, I think.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Sojerz — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 09:56:00 GMT

Thanks. I was 7-12 when I swam there (lived in New Hyde Park). Lynn Burke a 1960 gold medal winner was from Flushing Y. I was about the same age, although I switched to an AAU team (West Islip Swim Club) in about '58 or so (at 9 yrs old). I think when I was at Huntington we swam other inner-city Ys Harlem and another. I remember Lynn Burke - proof that it is not the size/condition of the pool that counts. The swimming community was so much smaller back then and news traveled almost by word of mouth at meets until I think Eric and Kevin Tillman's Dad started a mimeo'd newsletter and mailing list (forget what he called it).

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

swim53 — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 08:39:43 GMT

C.J.- Who could forget that Varsity Pool at OSU! It was unique and one had to love the quirkiness of it. I found a small locker room that had a tiled walkway in the back that led (no kidding) into a very old men's locker room.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

secondheart — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 06:36:30 GMT

I swam for Huntington Y and swam in the Flushing Y pool in meets at that time (late 50s). Coming from the LI burbs into the City the pool was a real eye opener, the lesson "stop complaining". Talk about perseverance, you guys had it! Of course, as Frank sang, "if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere." Great to see you are still swimming.Thanks. I was 7-12 when I swam there (lived in New Hyde Park). Lynn Burke a 1960 gold medal winner was from Flushing Y.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Sojerz — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 06:08:50 GMT

Flushing YMCA pool in the late 50's early 60's. A four lane pool, the lane lines were about 5 feet wide. There were lane lines on the bottom of the pool but no rope lines to separate the lanes. Chlorine was always high (this was before goggles existed). In practice we swam in the buff, near the end of practice we would be crashing into the side walls and starting in lane 1 and ending in lane 4. Worst pool great memories. I swam for Huntington Y and swam in the Flushing Y pool in meets at that time (late 50s). Coming from the LI burbs into the City the pool was a real eye opener, the lesson "stop complaining". Talk about perseverance, you guys had it! Of course, as Frank sang, "if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere." Great to see you are still swimming.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Former Member — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:57:40 GMT

Maybe not the worst pool, but the worst swimming experience I've had in the pool. One day my highschool decided to let the entire middle school use the pool for gym class, middle school had over 500 students. So after school gets out we got to use the pool for practice and the water is a white milky color. All of the hair products, axe body sprays, and who knows what else that the middleschoolers were wearing turned the water white. Our coach still made us practice in it...

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Former Member — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 11:02:06 GMT

When I was growing up, in winter the worst pool was the one at Dedham High School - murky, too hot, very little deck area, always seemed very dark and dingy. If you ever forgot your goggles you'd regret it immediately, man that water burned. In summer - there was a pool I think in Norwood, sort of funky water, crud all over the bottom, everyone suspected it drew water from the pond next to it. (I might be biased since I nearly drowned myself at one meet after a bad start.)

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

WPSWIMS — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 10:08:52 GMT

I remember racing 50 fly in the end lane at the Flushing Y . The New Rochelle Y was not much better where I competed in junior and high school!

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

CJR — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 09:53:55 GMT

Have several to mention; Walnut Hills High School - Cincinnati Ohio. 2 pools, each 4 lanes, 20 yards long. One pool was for the boys team, the other for the girls. Locker rooms were up a flight of stairs, which went to the third floor of the school. The old Ohio State University pools. The original pool, where much history took place back in the 50's & 60's, had walls at the turn end that extend five feet about the water level. Locker rooms were so small you could not imagine. Also during the 70's, OSU bulit an indoor 50 meter pool, which was going to take place of the old pool, however the ceiling was only 8 feet about the water, so by default this became there recreation pool. Thankfully OSU built the new Aquatic center. Cherry Hill Swim Club - Erlanger KY (near Cincy OH). Straight 25 meter pool. Starting block end, 3 feet. No lights. Many people had dental emergencies due to chipped teeth once the sun went behind the trees on Thursday night swim meet nights.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

thomasjohnlynch — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 01:52:38 GMT

Since my HS (LaSalle College High School in Wyndmoor, PA) actually HAD a pool (had an outdoor one as well for summer camps) I guess it can't be that bad. But as pools go it was one dingy, shallow (I was a diver), and narrow at only 4 lanes wide and 25 yards long sucker. Probably the most alarming item was because the filtration systems were a little quirky and most of the students non-swimmers so they tried to wear cutoffs or other street wear that got dirt and threads etc. From the school's inception at this location until thankfully the year before my freshman year - NO SUITS/SHORTS allowed. NAKED swim class. YOU HAD to use the ladders it was almost impossible to scale the gutter/wall. www.l-y-n-c-h.com/.../Diver_Tom_1975_large.html

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Elaine Krugman — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 06:44:51 GMT

That's not the worst pool. Tie something around your waist and attach to the post. Then begin swimming in your modified endless pool. Yeah, I suppose I could have done that. :D I opted instead to take the 15 minute drive to the Sanibel Recreation Center pool. :agree:

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Bill Sive — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 06:17:47 GMT

8300 That's not the worst pool. Tie something around your waist and attach to the post. Then begin swimming in your modified endless pool.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Elaine Krugman — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:22:29 GMT

8300

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Former Member — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:27:40 GMT

Any pool in Germany. In Germany pools don't have lanes. People just swim all over the place.:D

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

secondheart — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 08:36:54 GMT

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

sunruh — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 08:38:43 GMT

i once raced in a pool in Salina, Kansas that had no deck. you could walk around it but that was it. all seating was in another room upstairs that you could look out the windows down to the 4 lane pool. yes, FOUR lanes. does the top seed go in lane 2 or lane 3? :D

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Former Member — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 16:17:00 GMT

the one with the gargoyles in the corners? i've race in that pool. the record board was a who's who of the swimming world with records held by goodell, furness, naber.... . The gargoyles originally spouted water. It was probably the biggest facility upgrade in history when we moved from that pool to the '84 Olympic pool after my Jr. year.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

sunruh — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 11:55:11 GMT

The gargoyles originally spouted water. It was probably the biggest facility upgrade in history when we moved from that pool to the '84 Olympic pool after my Jr. year. it certainly was. i still have my meet credentials from the LA'83 meet. they "worked" at the '84 Olympics until a few of my friends got caught. :D seems the database of "allowed" didnt get purged and as long as you kept it turned around and didnt show the LA'83 and just had it scanned you could go anywhere. i would say the texas a&m upgrade was bigger when it finally happened just a few years back.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:47:58 GMT

Any former Jersey Wahoos swimmers out there? Back in the 80s, our coaches would always trek us up from Virginia to Philly/New Jersey for better competition. The Jersey Wahoos were exceptionally tough in those days, but we always marveled at how high their elbows would go on their butterfly (as they kicked our asses). It wasn't until we did an exchange meet with them -- where we discovered their (to my mind) 3' width cramped lanes -- that I understood the reason for it. Speaking of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University used to have a dungeon like pool, I think it was 6 lanes and, to my memory, about 3' depth at the start with a 10' ceiling so that, even at 13 years old, you felt like you had to crouch down for fear of hitting the ceiling when you got on the blocks. For some reason, though, I used to love that pool: we'd come off holiday training and do a meet there in early January and I always swam lights out.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Doug Adamavich — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 10:45:18 GMT

Cooke Hall at the University of Minnesota was a real dump. It was built during the Depression and represented vintage 1935 technology... The facility was small and had many dungeon-esque qualities to it. Heck, the toilets didn't even have solid dividers between them! The walls were tall so the wave bounced back really bad, the pool tile was dark green, the deck had almost no space, and the facility was dark. I swam there a few times in college before it was replaced by the current Natatorium in 1990. Talk about a big difference!

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

Michael Heather — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 12:33:31 GMT

The worst pool I ever competed in was the old USC indoor pool. What a dump. Like a cave incubating stalactites and fish with no eyes because of the wetness and no light, despite large windows on one wall (a cruel joke). Then you got to go down a couple of flights of stairs creatively decorated with slime mold and algae to the warm up pool that was even worse because there was no hope of breathing fresh air or ever leaving alive if you were caught by the resident sea serpent.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

HUSKR — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 04:24:05 GMT

Did you swim in any Masters meets while you were there? I worked in London from 87 - 90 and swam in a few as a member of Otter Swim Club. I think one was short course meters, indoors, maybe in Oxford? We didn't have any Masters groups in our area to compete with but I was selected for the AF team (UK bases) and competed in a meet at NATO HQ in Brussels in 89 or 90. We swam against AF teams from other NATO countries, we came in last but it was something I'll never forget!

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

sunruh — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 03:48:25 GMT

The worst pool I ever competed in was the old USC indoor pool. the one with the gargoyles in the corners? i've race in that pool. the record board was a who's who of the swimming world with records held by goodell, furness, naber.... HA! the pool at texas a&m is far worse. 1st (and only) time i walked into it i asked my coach if that was the warmup pool...he laughed and said no thats were we race, the warmup pool is behind it. and behind meant a mere 1 foot of concrete hand trowled wall. to this day i am still shocked that anybody "chose" to go there. now the pool at smu is ok, but the building around it is akin to a shed. the annual feburary DAM meet at perkins is a dice roll on if you freeze before you get into the water because the wind howls through the gaps in the doors and windows. again the quality of swimmers produced there is mind boggling compared to the 70+ year old facilities.

RE: The worst pool in the world ?

TRYM_Swimmer — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 03:40:47 GMT

While I was in the AF stationed in the UK in the late 80's I helped coach the high school team. We had a meet at a local village, Mildenhall if I remember correctly, and the water depth was about 2' in the shallow end to about 4' in the deep end and the lane ropes were literally nylon ropes "sort of" separating lanes...and the water felt like bath water, yuck! Did you swim in any Masters meets while you were there? I worked in London from 87 - 90 and swam in a few as a member of Otter Swim Club. I think one was short course meters, indoors, maybe in Oxford?