What can make a potentially great pool and swim meet (78-80 degree deep water, wide lanes, great gutter system, good starting blocks, great lighting, large scoreboard, excellent officials, etc.) into a mediocre one? The lane lines.
We recently swam our championships in a new state-of-the-art pool. The only problem was the slack lane lines. The water was very choppy and continued that way throughout the whole race. They served no more purpose than the old “floaties” we used 45 years ago. They were so loose they visibly rose and fell with the waves and had so many horizontal waves they looked like serpents at the surface. The lane lines did not cut the waves but rather rode them. When there was a race with an open lane, the waves pushed the lane lines well into the free lane. Predictably overall times were not as fast as they could have been.
It is not necessary to have the lane lines are tight as a piano wire in order for them to be effective, but tightening them up for a meet is an area that is most often neglected. We work too hard at our craft not to be given every opportunity to swim as fast as the pool allows.
Former Member
Just about anyone could go up to an official and state you don't think the lane lines are sufficiently tight. It maybe a case where it was an oversight.
I have had to ask the staff at my pool to tighten the lane ropes twice in the last week. We had one so loose that the old ladies bouncing up and down in the water aerobics class next to it had pushed it over so that the lane was 3/4 its normal width at the middle, and the swimmers in that lane were climbing all over each other and cracking each other's knuckles as they passed. The lanes are already narrow, and what with having to swim around the creatures floating in there, there's not much room to maneuver.
I think I would be rather irritated if that kind of thing happened at a meet.
Originally posted by Shaky
I have had to ask the staff at my pool to tighten the lane ropes twice in the last week. We had one so loose that the old ladies bouncing up and down in the water aerobics class next to it had pushed it over so that the lane was 3/4 its normal width at the middle, and the swimmers in that lane were climbing all over each other and cracking each other's knuckles as they passed. .
I had the same thing happen a while back at the Y where I swim. Can you believe this - the water aerobes actually complained that the swimmers were getting them wet, when they were standing in OUR LANE!! It is really difficult to circle swim in half a lane.
Water aeobric people in the same lane. I don't have that problem at the rec pool since they have there classes earlier. I would thing that a Y would do the same thing. On the other hand, at the health club pool where you can put in only one land and only one person fits in it. it can get crowded and like you say you have to do circle swimming.
Originally posted by cinc310
Water aeobric people in the same lane.
They were in the same lane because of a very loose lane line. They leaned against it so that only half a lane was left for the swimmers. And then they complained about getting wet!! Another annoyance is when they lay their equipment (woggles, those leg weight things) on the lane line, so that you hit against it as you swim by.
When we have masters practice we always swim three or four to a lane.
Originally posted by jean sterling
Another annoyance is when they lay their equipment (woggles, those leg weight things) on the lane line, so that you hit against it as you swim by.
The way I handle that is to stop, grab whatever it is and hurl it to the deck at the far side of the pool. You should see their faces. Hey, it shouldn't have been there.
So far no one has challenged me on it. Perhaps I look unhappy.:mad:
That's still not the worst problem I have with them. One of their "exercises" involves rolling forward onto their stomaches and kicking way out behind them near the surface. They kick under the ropes, and I've taken shots to the ribs and legs. They're generally pretty weak, but it's still a shock to get a foot in your side in the pool.
I {{{hate}}} this Y. I've looked for another pool, but this one ends up being the only one workable with my work schedule.
Kaelonj Thank you for supporting the water aerobics folks.
Confession time here. I do the water aerobics class twice a week at my pool. Aquageek, you are right, some of the folks in the class are far out of shape, but they are doing something to get into shape... everyone has to start somewhere. And you are also right that for someone who is in shape the class is not aerobic However, aerobic fitness, endurance and speed are not the end all/ultimate goals for everyone. I time my swim workout so I am swimming slow easy cool down laps just before the water aerobics class begins, then I paddle on over, participate and cool down a little bit more... it is a good stretch. Recently, the class has been doing ai chi as part of its workouts. You think the water aerobic exercises don't look difficult, you should watch the slow ballet like movements of an ai chi class--those postures, believe it or not, are harder to perform correctly than most of the water aerobic exercises we do. Since beginning ai chi my flexibility has increased. I even think it has helped my endurance some because, like tai chi, ai chi stresses breathing correctly as one performs the postures. What I'm trying to say is everyone gets out of an activity, what they put into it.
The water aerobics folks pay their dues just as lap swimmers do and have a right to use the pool in a manner they find fit. Look at it this way... would you rather have the times you can swim laps restricted so lap swimmers and water aerobics aren't in the pool at the same time? Guess we are lucky at our pool because as far as I know lapswimmers (and I know most of them) and water aerobics folks (and I know most of them too) co exist peacfully.
From the perspective of the facility operator (I've got a dozen or so years experience in this capacity), lap swimmers are, in many cases, the low priority user group on the list. A couple of the posts in this thread serve to illustrate at least some of the reasons why.
It has been my experience that lap swimmers tend to be the most demanding (in some cases, militant) patrons in the facility. They tend to be more territorial (that's MY lane) than other groups. If there is no resident swim team, lap swimmers are the ONLY group that complains when the water gets above 82 degrees. They often think, perhaps because there are lane lines and a stripe on the bottom, that they have a greater right to use the pool than do others. They often labor under the delusion that lap swimming is a better or more worthy use of pool space that other endeavors.
Are ALL lap swimmers like this? No. But it only takes a few at any given facility to give ALL the lap swimmers there a bad name.
My experience has been (and when facility operators compare notes I see the same trend) that the people who cause the greatest headaches for the operator generally come from the ranks of lap swimmers.
Perhaps this all stems from spending countless hours staring at the black line with the metronome of countless strokes burning a hole through the part of the brain responsible for sociable behavior. In the many years I operated large facilities the ONLY people I've had to suspend privileges for have been lap swimmers. In all but one case it was for antisocial behavior (grabbing someone else's equipment and throwing it out of the pool, if witnessed by the lifeguard, would get you a day or so of cooling off at the very least).
As someone who now makes his living from pool time and space rented for swimmers to use (my Masters team, clinics, lessons), I realize that we are guests of the facility and that our privilege to use the space we rent can disappear in a heartbeat if I, or one of my swimmers, abuse that privilege.
I'm aware of more than a few cases where facility operators have expanded lesson or water aerobic programs at the expense of lap swim or group swim opportunities. Sometimes this is strictly a dollar/resources driven action (lap swimmers are generally among the smallest contributors to the financial strength of the facility yet their space/participant ratio is high compared to other groups - our water aerobics would routinely have a dozen or more people per lane). In other cases there are contributing factors as noted above.
Whether you are a member of a facility, a member of a group that rents facility space, or you simply pay a daily lap fee, you have a privilege that is no greater, no more worthy, no more sacred than the privilege others at the facility have. Abuse yours and it will disappear - that's as it should be. But the real shame is when one or two people screw up lap or group swimming privileges for others.
How about bowling, gotta love bowling what other sport seems to promote drinking and smoking (of course that is my take from my own experiences, golf can be considered up there too I guess). The point about the fitness level of water exercise participants can be a little misleading (experiences may vary). As Laineybug said these people have to start somewhere, some participants because of health reasons may not be able to do land, weight bearing type exercises (this includes arthritis, fibriomalygia, any cardio vascular problems, and the list goes on) but when you put these people in the water, they have a new source of empowerment, able to control themselves for the most part). True not all participants are this way, but the fact they are out and moving should be a credit. Look at the trend in assisted care housing, not to long ago it used to be bingo and TV now they are getting these people moving, even if in a wheel chair using a simple balloon to work on muscle control of the hand may get a stroke victim back to where they can hold a utensil and feed themselves instead of someone else feeding them. I would love to be able to cater to every members specific aquatic needs, unfortunately I would need about 10 pools, one for teaching lessons, one for Aqua exercise, a deep water play pool a shallow water play pool a warm water lap pool a serious competition pool, etc, this is very unfeasible so there needs to be a little compromise and tolerance of other activities, and if there is a problem information and education are your best weapons.
Sorry for the soapbox, I'll get down now I have to go move some lanes lines to get ready for our lap swimmers.
I think that it is safe to say that most lap swimmers don't understand (or we don't want to understand - because we must justify our own pain) the benefits of those WaterX classes. Why would you get into a pool with a brand-new hair-do? I guarantee it is not because you want to elevate your heart rate. Anyway, I'm sure that in another 30 years I will better understand what the point is, and in the meantime, I will be very thankful for them supporting the pool finances.
If you want to scare off some of these would-be water athletes (floaters) then maybe you could explain that they could benefit physically more from a land based activity. Being water bound contributes to Osteoporosis. (for all of us)
www.spma.net/swimosteo.htm
