Swim Rant

This is just a slight rant: people who want to stop you during your set and talk about whatever, "how long you been swimming," "how many laps do you swim," "I just swam down and back and I'm exhausted," and so on. I try not to be rude, but at the same time I'll set goals during my swims and part of that is trying to make a certain interval, which means: 1) I'm breathing too hard to talk, and 2) I can't stop to talk or I'll miss the interval. In the grand scheme perhaps I'm taking my swimming too seriously. :D NO your not!!!!!!!!!At least that is my point of view.

I can only endorse the anti-noodler rant.I try to get out before they arrive as they seemingly have no sense or respect for others and their perfume makes the air unbreathable,what is up with that?

I can only endorse the anti-noodler rant.I try to get out before they arrive as they seemingly have no sense or respect for others and their perfume makes the air unbreathable,what is up with that? I actually had a noodler hit me one time. Well, not hard. I was upside down, executing a flip turn, and she tapped my hamstring. (Apparently that is the universal sign for "we're taking over your lane NOW.") It was so unexpected that it invoked the fight-or-flight response from me as I pushed off the wall. All of a sudden I was shouting obscenities underwater and dolphin kicking at 100% intensity. I did move over after that... Their class is Fridays at 9 am, but I try to be out of there by 8:45 since that's when they start commandeering lanes.

I am pleased to say I no longer have to deal with the noodlers. There is a water aerobics class that meets at 7:30 am at our club but they get two lanes of a 22 lane pool. There are no noodles allowed and these ladies work. Since it is a swimming pool the water is kept cool and there's no ambiguity about everyone's role and place. This is as opposed to the Y where noodlers have basically ruined swimming for everyone.

and their perfume makes the air unbreathable,what is up with that? I agree. I've almost passed out from it! At least they don't get their hair wet. The toxic runoff consisting of all the chemicals they put in their hair (hairspray, gel, mousse, straightners, shine enhancers, etc.) would literally make me sick.

People that think you "pace" a 50 free. :blah: LOL! Goes to show how different everyone is. I paced my 50 LCM fly @ Nationals b/c I knew I was not in shape enough to sprint the whole thing (after taking 12 years off from swimming). I sat on my competitions' shoulders the first 30 meters or so and then sprinted the last 20.

I actually had a noodler hit me one time. Well, not hard. I was upside down, executing a flip turn, and she tapped my hamstring. (Apparently that is the universal sign for "we're taking over your lane NOW.") It was so unexpected that it invoked the fight-or-flight response from me as I pushed off the wall. All of a sudden I was shouting obscenities underwater and dolphin kicking at 100% intensity. I did move over after that... Their class is Fridays at 9 am, but I try to be out of there by 8:45 since that's when they start commandeering lanes. Haha :) I guess that was a courtesy, in a way. I once had the laneline moved (closed) on me with no warning whatsoever. I was swimming away happily and then the walls started closing in on me. I had to stop mid-length because I was surrounded by laneline. I stood up and said to one of the laneline pushing noodlers "excuse me but please give warning in future when you are going to do that". She looked at me like I was a floating turd, said nothing, and continued moving the laneline til I got out. I think I've ranted about that before.....

Being stopped and kicked out of the pool in the middle of my workout for a noodle class that is starting. This is for just 2 - 3 noodlers and a noodle instructor on the ledge. Whoever invented water aerobics has scammed all of the swimmers of the world. It's a swimming pool.

My rant? I have several: 1. The water aerobics ladies who complain EVERY SINGLE DAY about how cold the water is (84!). To make matters worse, they tiptoe into the pool at excruciatingly slow speed, just adding to their misery. :confused: 2. The same ladies complain to ME about how cold the water is, when I smile and say hello every morning, rather than returning the smile and saying hello back. Then, they give me a dirty look when I suggest they dive in and get MOVING, so the water won't seem so cold. Talking about self torture! 3. Yes, the same ladies, AGAIN, who leaned on the lane lines too many times during their classes and ripped one out of the side of the pool, causing a huge crack. Thanks to them, the pool was shut down for 21/2 weeks for repairs. :bitching: 4. And, it was them, AGAIN, who kept drifting into my lane when the HOA manager refused to put the lane lines back, after the repairs. One too many collisions from me whacking them during backstroke or an in-water butterfly start finally got my point across about needing the lane lines reinstalled. Now, the women are not allowed to lean on the lines, unless they want to pay for the $5,000 repair themselves, if it cracks again. :applaud: 5. The construction company who did a half-assed job of constructing the pool in the first place. A six lane, 25 yd. pool without gutters? :confused: You should see what it looks like when I come in for a turn doing breaststroke or butterfly! Turbulent? :censor: 6. The SAME construction company who built the pool with metal stairs and railing that are not built into the side of the pool. Not only is it already rusting after less than a year; it's a toe buster when I get too close during the wall while swimming breaststroke. Or worse yet, how about butterfly? One whack with my fingers made me swear I would never swim in THAT lane again. There are only two lanes dedicated to lap swimming, but I NEVER swim in the first lane anymore. No can do! 7. The :censor: desk receptionist who insists on setting the music to "50's on 5", rather than the 70's or even 60's station the other receptionists set the dial to when they work. Sheesh! The average age in our adult community is 60 which means most of the residents didn't start getting into music until the 60's and 70's. They were too young to remember the 50's! :confused: BUT, having said all that, does it all REALLY matter to me? NO, it doesn't. It's just something too laugh about. Sure, I would rather be swimming in a 78 degree, low-turbulence pool without the water aerobics ladies, but I am so THANKFUL to have a pool- AND BE ABLE TO SWIM IN THE POOL- at all. I live in beautiful Sun City Peachtree for which I am very thankful (even if I am the second to the youngest resident here). And, we have a gorgeous indoor pool and locker room, even if the pool wasn't built to competition standards. Since it's included in the HOA fees, it costs no more for me to swim and use our state-of-the-art gym everyday, than it does for our neighbors who watch TV all day long and don't use any of the facilities. :D Most of all, I am just thankful and grateful (to my excellent surgeon) to be able to swim at all. If it weren't for his excellent 41/2 hour surgery on my shoulder, who knows what would have happened to my shoulder and arm? I had severe bilateral thoracic outlet syndrome (not from swimming; it was a repetitive stress injury from work), resulting in numb arms with very limited blood flow. My arms were almost useless. One arm was ultimately able to rehab in physical therapy after the first surgery, but the other endured physical therapy (which failed), a brutal surgery (which was successful), and a lot of physical therapy and long-term nerve regeneration. The last time I swam regularly and competed was in high school, because I had moved on to other fitness activities, due to no access to a pool nearbye, after college. Am I happy to have a beautiful pool at my disposal for the opportunity to see if I could swim regularly again? Am I thrilled to learn that I CAN swim regularly again? :bliss: Think about how fortunate you really are when you rant... And, be thankful. :agree:

Being stopped and kicked out of the pool in the middle of my workout for a noodle class that is starting. This is for just 2 - 3 noodlers and a noodle instructor on the ledge. Whoever invented water aerobics has scammed all of the swimmers of the world. It's a swimming pool. Yep!!!!! I was kicked out of a swim workout by a noodle class because they needed 2 lanes in which to do NOTHING. BTW, this class had 4 people in it, and the instructor had to move 2 people into the second lane purely for the purpose of removing me because I was swimming.