There are so many new products on the market, oddly shaped paddles, gloves - I even saw this contraption where you connect a tube from your waste to your ankles so that kicking is more difficult.
I do not think that this equipment is effective - particularily paddles - unless you are a very high lever swimmer and you only use it spottingly. Unfortunately ussage tends to be most common with LOW level swimmers and these swimmers use the equipment far too much durring each workout.
My advice to those returning to the pool is to avoid all of this stuff - it will only lead to injuries.
Former Member
Aw, it's all right. I suspect Aquageek recognized himself in my description and was embarrassed, having once shown up as a new swimmer with a whole bag full of toys he didn't know how to use, then getting into the fast lane and being frightened when the other swimmers passed him. He thought they should just wait behind him and that by passing him they were trying to intimidate him, when all they were really doing is just trying to finish their workouts. It probably hurt his pride to have to move to the slow lane, so he's taking it out on me here as a representative of all those mean, unsportsmanlike people who wouldn't wait for him in the pool.
That's okay. Somebody has to be the slowest.
:p
With an ego that size, it's a wonder you can fit your head into a lane by yourself. Would be interesting to swim with you some day and see just how "slow" I am compared to you.
I have no pride, incidentally, and don't mind swimming in the lane where I am swimming with equals. Think you could hang in as my equal, Shaky?
Why is swimming a contact sport at your YMCA?
Hmmm...about the swimming toys. I think if they make a swimmer more interested in his/her workout and keeps the person swimming, that's good. I think there's a place for them, as long as they're not overused. When I was swimming USS and HS (80's), we did train with paddles (say 1 set every other day for freestylers). I think it helped me because I tended to be weaker than other girls, and I was not injury prone. Fins are good but I think kick sets should be done both with and without.
I have to admit I have a pet peeve with the swimmers on my Masters team that *rely* on the fins for strokes. They get them for *every* stroke set so they can keep up. Oh, but now they are leading the lane because they have fins on, and I am going last in their wake even though strokes are my strong point. I think everyone should learn the strokes properly first and THEN on keeping up with a set and using flippers occasionally, but not all the time.
People, people , people............. get a grip on reality !
Repeat 10 times slowly : There's no money in this, there's no money in this, there's no.......etc, etc.
Shakey (Shaky??) knows all about boorish so-called "swimmers" who show up and make it tough for gentle people like me to get a decent workout. Swimming IS a contact sport when the pool is over-crowded and perhaps poorly organized.
Now to the point : I'm planning on introducing a new line of products for "swimmers". Included will be the newer than new toe fins as well as fingernail paddles. For those desiring greater resistance when they "swim" check out our new tow behind you boat. (Trolling bucket included at extra cost.) Those new-agers with the ear-rings everywhere will delight in state of the art timing and wake-up music and head/hand position advice coming right to them through their jewelry. We never quit selling and answering the needs of our trendy "swimmers".
By the way, what in the heck does "coom-bye-yah" mean ?
And another thing...since when did "elite" become a dirty word ?
Bert
Originally posted by ShariL
Why is swimming a contact sport at your YMCA?
Bert understands and explained it pretty well, but I'll give you a more complete picture of the situation.
At every one of the dozen or so pools I've used regularly in the past (including four other Y pools), people were for the most part courteous, traffic in the pool wasn't ridiculous, and you could expect to get a reasonable workout without stress or personal injury. At THIS Y, however, the pool is extremely crowded. Part of the overcrowding is because of unusually high interest in "swimming" (or some attempt at it), but a large part of it is because of poor scheduling on the part of management.
The pool has six lanes. Each lane has a sign over it to designate the speed in that lane. There are two slow lanes, two medium lanes, one fast lane, and one very fast lane. The slow and medium lanes are on the outside, with the fast and very fast in the middle.
As I mentioned earlier, I don't consider myself to be very fast; but at THIS pool, I end up in the fast or very fast lane because I am faster than the majority of people who use the pool. If I find myself in one of the fast lanes with people who are much faster than I am, I usually move, because I know how irritating it is to have one guy slowing down the whole lane. But that situation is rare for me.
Unfortunately, this pool attracts a lot of inexperienced swimmers who pay no attention to etiquette guidelines on lane usage, and the lifeguards (who the aquatic director has told me are supposed to police the lanes) pay little attention to much of anything. Swimmers are supposed to enter from the shallow end, but people jump into the lanes from both ends of the pool without signaling their intentions to the people who are already there. You might be lucky enough to be there during one of the few uncrowded times and have two in a lane swimming side by side, and a third guy will jump in and start swimming circles without observing what the other people are doing and without making his presence known to them. One guy did this and ran into me head on.
My "contact sport" signature actually came before that encounter, from several other impacts with other swimmers. There are an inordinate number of people here who use a monstrously wide breaststroke kick and kick under the lane ropes. I've been kicked several times in the sides and legs. Some sweep unusually wide with their arms under the ropes, and I have been hit, scratched and even had one snag my suit and pull it down a little. I've also been hit and scratched during wide backstroke pulls.
Then there's the wide freestyle recovery over the lane ropes. I've had my hands smacked so many times there's no count. One girl hit me so hard it split my knuckle open. It's particularly bad when you get one of those guys next to you who thinks he needs to smack the water really hard to feel as though he's getting a good workout.
Then there are the people who can't swim a straight line or who can't stay on their side of the lane. I had one guy cross over and miss me head on, but somehow he managed to hook his elbow under my arm. Smack!
Then there are the people who want to "race" you. You get a chance to pass someone who is just poking along in front of you, but when you move out to the side they suddenly pour in every ounce of effort to keep you from passing. There's this one silly jerk who swims there regularly that I avoid like the plague because he does this. Once when I attempted to pass him, he turned his head and looked back at me, put on the speed and started moving toward the middle of the lane to crowd me out. He managed to stay just ahead of me to the end of the pool, where he did a really violent flip turn and tried to shove off into me.
Speaking of that guy, he's a perfect example of the intimidators Aquageek mentioned. He will get into a lane with swimmers who are slower than he is and start doing butterfly. His stroke has a whole lot of splash in it and takes up almost the whole lane. He'll come up on them from behind slap his arms violently against the water to splash them.
The jerk even takes other people's towels.
And let's not forget the ones who push off the wall right in front of you as you're approaching for a turn, when they KNOW you're faster than they are. Their intervals are so important that they can't wait five more seconds for you to get off the wall. Or worse, I've actually had some that have taken off at the same time, so that two swimmers are suddenly competing for the same spot in the space/time continuum.
All these problems with bad swimmers are irritating enough, but they are compounded by the sheer number of swimmers in the pool. At one point last week there were EIGHT PEOPLE in the fast lane, including me. There's supposed to be a limit of five, but the lifeguards don't pay any attention. One of them was blocking everyone while she used a kickboard. Another had these really long fins and was kicking up and down the pool backwards in a sitting position, with his head out of the water. The fins were so awkward that he and the fins got in everyone's way at each end of the pool when he had to struggle to turn around. I cut my workout short and left.
The population problem is increased by the programs the Y schedules for the pool during the most crowded times of the day. Water aerobics happens in the mornings and evenings, during the most busy times for the pool, and takes up two lanes. Masters takes up two or three lanes. Adult swimming lessons take up one or two lanes. Children's lessons close the whole pool. The triathletes take up two or three lanes in the mornings. Some of these programs overlap, such that the pool has actually been reduced to two lanes for lap swimmers. On some weekends, which are already crowded with "family swimmers," they'll close half the pool for water safety instructor courses.
I no longer go there in the evenings because of the overbooking of the pool. I was swimming in the mornings, but lately there have been way too many people in there. The only time when the pool is NOT ridiculously crowded is during the work day (except lunchtime), so I try to slip out of the office when I can.
Why don't I go somewhere else? Convenience, money and a lack of suitable alternative. I pay $80 a month now (the most expensive Y I've ever heard of), but they're just about the cheapest in town. I tried going to one of the local high schools that has an open swim time. I walked in, saw people waiting to get into a lane, and walked back out. I found a pool that isn't very crowded, but it will cost me $135 per month and add a minimum of 90 minutes to my day to get there before or after work. In contrast, the Y is right near my office.
My line of work has taken me to several cities, and nowhere have I encountered the kind of problems I experience here. To be honest, I'm swimming less and less these days, and actually considering giving it up until I can move away from here.
Sorry for the long rant. It was going to be quick, but once I get started it's hard to stop whining.
OK Shaky I get it! ;) The funniest part was about the swimmers who want to race you as you try to pass them.
Is there an outdoor pool you can swim at in the summer? I love the summer when I can swim outdoors at the community pool...and our masters team is starting practice outside this week too (after pool closing). Are you swimming on a Master's Team? The etiquette there should be much better.
I bet you would love this...our Y pool is 4 lanes. During lap swim, they do a double-lane in the middle...so now it's 3 lanes, 1 Fast, 1 Medium (double), 1 slow (with steps interfering in shallow end). Some of the swimmers love the double lane. To me, it is a waste of a lane. At our Y, the pool-sharing concept is an improvement because it provides many more hours of lap swim time than before, when the old aquatic director did not consider shared pool time (ie, 2 lanes lap, 2 lanes class).
How about a college? Sometimes you can sign up for a class, and get free use of the pool/fitness facilities. It may even be cheaper than your Y!
Originally posted by ShariL
Why is swimming a contact sport at your YMCA?
I have to admit I have a pet peeve with the swimmers on my Masters team that *rely* on the fins for strokes. They get them for *every* stroke set so they can keep up. Oh, but now they are leading the lane because they have fins on, and I am going last in their wake even though strokes are my strong point. I think everyone should learn the strokes properly first and THEN on keeping up with a set and using flippers occasionally, but not all the time.
Hi ya! As a 'fin wearer' and new masters' swimmer, I just wanted to say,' I agree- I'd love to swim without them!' Unfortunately, some of us need to rely on them in the beginning... (for ex., I've discussed this with my coach, and he said that I need them until I'm stronger) so be gentle with us guppies! ;)
peace...
I didn't mean to be too hard on the newer swimmers that need fins. My point is that some people put them on all the time so they can keep up (or beat) faster people rather than properly work on their strokes.
A mix of learning strokes with and without fins is going to help more than using fins exclusively, just to make intervals or beat other people in the lane swimming without.
Good luck! :)
Originally posted by ShariL
I didn't mean to be too hard on the newer swimmers that need fins. Good luck! :)
Thanks; I'll need it! I can't wait 'til I can swim with the 'big kids' in lane two!!
peace... :D
