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.
Parents
Former Member
On the general subject of lane line tightness - I know a number of people who, just as a matter of course, carry in their equipment a ratchet wrench ($8 at Home Depot) of the correct size for tightening lane lines. There are many multi-use pools where the lane lines are switched out several times during the day by different groups, not all of which are careful about getting them re-tightened properly. Here in Texas, many pools operate without lifeguards on deck so being self sufficient in this respect can be quite useful for the swimmer. One suggestion: check first with management to be sure it is OK for you to tighten offending lane lines - in most cases it should be no problem.
On the general subject of lane line tightness - I know a number of people who, just as a matter of course, carry in their equipment a ratchet wrench ($8 at Home Depot) of the correct size for tightening lane lines. There are many multi-use pools where the lane lines are switched out several times during the day by different groups, not all of which are careful about getting them re-tightened properly. Here in Texas, many pools operate without lifeguards on deck so being self sufficient in this respect can be quite useful for the swimmer. One suggestion: check first with management to be sure it is OK for you to tighten offending lane lines - in most cases it should be no problem.
