mysterious pool!!!

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 16:34:25 GMT

I just hate when the pace clocks speed up during sets. Happens all the time to me, and here I thought I was alone...

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 16:17:07 GMT

Originally posted by Ian Smith ... And Phil, I'll have to check out the clock thing. At our pool the only thing I've noticed about our clock is that it speeds up during sets. At the beginning of the set everything is cool but near the end everyone is struggling to make the interval. Mysterious huh?? I hate when that happens!:)

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 16:01:59 GMT

For those travelling swimmers, you should be aware that in the southern hemisphere the pools are also faster/slower but in the opposite direction to here. But don't worry about it, I'm told this is due to the correolis effect mentioned above. And Phil, I'll have to check out the clock thing. At our pool the only thing I've noticed about our clock is that it speeds up during sets. At the beginning of the set everything is cool but near the end everyone is struggling to make the interval. Mysterious huh??

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 13:39:08 GMT

I have to say I get that same feeling of going smoother in one direction then it is to go the other. I never really put to much thought in it. I just assumed I must be swimming differently going the other way. Now I am wondering if it is the pool. Maybe I should try timing myself both ways, too, and see if there is a difference.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

mattson — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:37:38 GMT

I remember the Cleveland Nationals, where I went faster on the odd lengths (I could see on the scoreboard how far behind my goal pace I was), and slower on the even lengths (when I remembered how much more of the race I had to swim). :D

RE: mysterious pool!!!

jasoneaddy — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 09:14:11 GMT

This is actually pretty common. Even some big competition pools have a current. Ft. Lauderdale's HOF pool has one that's pretty well known. Swimming from the diving well end to the scoreboard end in a 50, you really want to be in lane 8. At regions a few years back, I can remember out of the 6 heats at finals, lane 8 had two firsts, two seconds, and two thirds. When people time trial the 50 there, they usually request lane 8 or lane 7. And there's not even a waterslide in the pool ;)

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 06:07:38 GMT

I have read that water depth can be a factor in swimming speed. Shallow pools allow turbulance to "boil" back up at you. Notice that all the super-fast pools are usually of uniform depth, and are fairly deep (6 ft or more.) It is possible that your "fast" direction was when you were swimming toward the deeper end of the pool. As you returned to the shallow end, your own turbulance was building up under you as the depth got shallower and shallower. And I could imagine this being most noticeable on breaststroke. Addendum: I can see this being a factor, but it's hard to say that it would cause two seconds difference.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 17:10:41 GMT

All I meant was that there is a definate current going on in the pool and rushing towards lane 1. Just trying to give somewhat of a visual--no need to get all technical on me.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 15:00:23 GMT

The pool at the Lifetime fitness by my house is slanted towards lane one. I can always tell the most when I have to swim in lane one and do breaststroke (of course really slow) and get pulled toward the wall. It is so noticeable that you can see all the water draining into the gutters around lane one and two. Needless to say, I hate that pool!!

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 13:49:40 GMT

Sometimes a pace clock is faster going down than going up. This can cause some strange splits and interval performances.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 12:17:59 GMT

There is a spot in my pool that seems to push me to one side. For the longest time I thought it was me not swimming straight then I started noticing that I got 'off course' at the same spot every time. This didn't happen when summer rolled around and we started swimming outside in a different pool.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

knelson — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 11:37:35 GMT

Originally posted by EyeoreSAM The pool at the Lifetime fitness by my house is slanted towards lane one. Haven't you heard the expression "water seeks its own level?" The pool can be slanted, the water level cannot. If the pool is slanted the water level would just be higher up the wall of the pool on one side versus the other.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 11:24:25 GMT

If there was a small leak in the pool, it may have induced a current due to the correolis (sp?) effect. -LBJ

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 07:50:39 GMT

Never fear, my local pool has the same types of current that is only aggravated when the water slide is turned on. Even when I am 30 meters from the slide at the far lane I can notice a current holding me back in one direction.

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Former Member — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 07:25:12 GMT

Did at any time the voice of Rod Sterling seem to also come out of nowhere while your were swimming in this strange pandoras box of a swimming pool?.....I would hate for you to end up trapped for eternity in some bizzarre temporal anomaly of some kind! newmastersswimmer

RE: mysterious pool!!!

knelson — Tue, 30 Nov 2004 04:43:20 GMT

Originally posted by EyeoreSAM no need to get all technical on me. Sorry, I'm an engineer. I can't help it :)

RE: mysterious pool!!!

Rob Copeland — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:34:21 GMT

Or the pool could have been constructed at an angle, so you were swimming slightly uphill going one direction and downhill the other. The downhill swim always seem much smoother;)

RE: mysterious pool!!!

knelson — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 07:15:56 GMT

Poorly designed filtration systems can induce a current in pools that will cause you to swim faster in one direction than the other. That's probably what you experienced. The only other explanation I can think of is you were using pace clocks to get your time and they weren't synched between the two ends of the pool, but I assume you would have figured that out right away.