First of all, I'm a new "masters" browser here and I enjoy reading all your humorous and informative posts. I recently started swimming low speed laps by myself and enjoy the nonimpact fitness I'm slowly attaining (started with the near death 1 lap swim, now a 500 free + broken up 200 IM + under water laps).
I'd like to know what kind of conditons other people swim in? Do you consider your pool setup to be good, fair, poor? My pool situation is as follows: I live in a gated community which has a 25 yard L-shaped pool. It's about 1/4mi away from my house. There are 2 lanes with lane lines open at all times to one side of the pool. Pool is about 9 months old with no starting blocks or flags. Rules are no diving allowed, no lifeguard on duty, no shampoo in the outdoor shower (what?). I usually drive my golf cart over to check for open lanes pretty much any time of day from 8am to 8pm. Open lane bliss can usually be found around 6pm each evening. The noodles floating around at this time often get smacked around by big lap waves since I'm rather tall. I've never had to share a lane with another lap swimmer (which is probably a good thing cause I think I would fail play nice with the other lap swimmers). The temperature of our pool is warm. Weather is warm for 9 months and dips to the 50s in winter. Lightning closes our pool daily in summer. An occasional car or lawn mower will blow in to the pool area sometimes making it impossible to swim, but nothing too bad overall. I think I'm fairly if not extremely fortunate to have such a set up as this, although I'm curious what others have to endure or relish at other pools. What are some of the pools like that you swim/train at?
When I swim in the mornings (99% of the time), with my team, we're in an outside about 75m pool, that is divided twice with bulkheads, making 3 25-yard swimming areas, 8 lanes each. The team gets an end area, with starting blocks. The pool edge goes into a gutter, so I guess you can say it is non-turbulent.
The temperature varies considerably throughout the year, from the mid-70s to mid-80s. There are times in the summer when the air temperature just doesn't get below 90, and the water takes a hit. When the heater first shuts off and turns on in the spring/fall it is quite a shock, but you adjust after about a week.
The main downside is that we turn into a bulkhead, and the bulkhead has pegs or something sticking out. If you don't know what you're doing, you can really poke your foot.
We usually have 2 coaches on deck, and the facility provides lifeguards, who are usually over ambitious about lightning or other events.
When I swim in the mornings (99% of the time), with my team, we're in an outside about 75m pool, that is divided twice with bulkheads, making 3 25-yard swimming areas, 8 lanes each. The team gets an end area, with starting blocks. The pool edge goes into a gutter, so I guess you can say it is non-turbulent.
The temperature varies considerably throughout the year, from the mid-70s to mid-80s. There are times in the summer when the air temperature just doesn't get below 90, and the water takes a hit. When the heater first shuts off and turns on in the spring/fall it is quite a shock, but you adjust after about a week.
The main downside is that we turn into a bulkhead, and the bulkhead has pegs or something sticking out. If you don't know what you're doing, you can really poke your foot.
We usually have 2 coaches on deck, and the facility provides lifeguards, who are usually over ambitious about lightning or other events.
