this weekend, I was in DC. I lived there in the 80s & early 90s. I swam where I used to swim & at a pool I had never been to before. I highly recommend finding a team when you travel, hunt own the pool & do a workout with strangers. It makes the whole world af swimmign so much more than staying in your world.
Parents
Former Member
I generally don't seek out a team to work out with, but it is almost a non-negotiable issue for me that I find a place to work out.
I start with YMCAs. I have a YMCA membership, and almost anywhere I go the local Y accepts my membership. YMCA has a program called "AWAY" (Always Welcome At the Ymca.) (Sometimes there are restrictions, such as a limit to the number of AWAY visits I can make in a 6-month period, and some YMCAs still charge me a guest fee, though when they do, it's 50% of the usual guest feel.)
If I strike out with the YMCAs, then I look at the "where to swim" page on this USMS board.
For instance, last week I was on business in Pleasanton, CA. The nearest YMCA was in Oakland (about 45 mins away.) Scrap that!
But the USMS page showed that there was a pool at a fitness center called "Club Sport." I gave them a call. They told me I could swim there if I had a membership at "24-hour Fitness" and some other reciprocal gyms, but I do not. Then they told me that guests staying at the Hilton in Pleasanton are given complimentary passes to "Club Sport." So guess where I booked my room?
It was a heated 25-yard outdoor lap pool. Very nice. (Cold trip to the pool from the club house!) At 5AM it was pitch black outside and 45 degrees, there was steam rising from the pool. The lighting was all under water. Quite eerie. Water temp was 80 degrees. Not crowded at all. They had an ajacent "fitness pool" (smaller, warmer) for walkers, floaters and q-tips.
I'm sure I'll be back to Pleasanton, and now I know where to swim there.
I generally don't seek out a team to work out with, but it is almost a non-negotiable issue for me that I find a place to work out.
I start with YMCAs. I have a YMCA membership, and almost anywhere I go the local Y accepts my membership. YMCA has a program called "AWAY" (Always Welcome At the Ymca.) (Sometimes there are restrictions, such as a limit to the number of AWAY visits I can make in a 6-month period, and some YMCAs still charge me a guest fee, though when they do, it's 50% of the usual guest feel.)
If I strike out with the YMCAs, then I look at the "where to swim" page on this USMS board.
For instance, last week I was on business in Pleasanton, CA. The nearest YMCA was in Oakland (about 45 mins away.) Scrap that!
But the USMS page showed that there was a pool at a fitness center called "Club Sport." I gave them a call. They told me I could swim there if I had a membership at "24-hour Fitness" and some other reciprocal gyms, but I do not. Then they told me that guests staying at the Hilton in Pleasanton are given complimentary passes to "Club Sport." So guess where I booked my room?
It was a heated 25-yard outdoor lap pool. Very nice. (Cold trip to the pool from the club house!) At 5AM it was pitch black outside and 45 degrees, there was steam rising from the pool. The lighting was all under water. Quite eerie. Water temp was 80 degrees. Not crowded at all. They had an ajacent "fitness pool" (smaller, warmer) for walkers, floaters and q-tips.
I'm sure I'll be back to Pleasanton, and now I know where to swim there.
