Swim Rant

This was my wife's experience,so this is a vicarious rant.The Country Club where we swim sometimes has four lanes and only one lane line, separating lane 1 from the rest. Since it does not have a line on the bottom it is not preferred by lap swimmers.This is rarely a problem unless a group of kids are there or the Noodlers are having their class. Anyway my wife gets there for her workout and there is no one else in the pool.After awhile another woman arrives and proceeds to accumulate noodles so that she is reclining with her head out of the water.She then proceeds to paddle backwards randomly,with her eyes closed.When she ends up in my wife's lane at the wall at the same time my wife is trying to turn my wife stops and says politely"excuse me,I am swimming laps and this is my lane."The Noodler replies"I don't pay much attention to laps(or anything else evidently swimming both backwards and with her eyes closed),I just paddle around",like this was a reasonable explanation for her:censor::censor::censor: behavior.My wife thought"I wish my shoulder wasn't sore,I'd just swim fly",but instead she just began to swim with an extremely vigorous kick whenever the Noodler approached figuring (rightly) that rather than get her hair wet she would stay out of the way. I would've come up behind the noodler after that while she was "paddlin' around" and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled down, then explained to her that "I just wanted to see how fast the noodles can bring up a submerged victim for a new lifesaving technique" :banana:

."The Noodler replies"I don't pay much attention to laps(or anything else evidently swimming both backwards and with her eyes closed),I just paddle around",like this was a reasonable explanation for her:censor::censor::censor: behavior. Perhaps a reply of "Well I don't pay much attention to drifting noodlers" and then proceeding to swim over her might have got the point across?

I would've come up behind the noodler after that while she was "paddlin' around" and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled down, then explained to her that "I just wanted to see how fast the noodles can bring up a submerged victim for a new lifesaving technique" :banana: LOVE IT! Now if only we had the courage to actually do that!:bump:

Perhaps a reply of "Well I don't pay much attention to drifting noodlers" and then proceeding to swim over her might have got the point across? I like this idea too!!:)

I have had enough of people blowing their nose into their hand, or worse yet, right into the pool. Some lean into the gutter, but still GROSS! :afraid:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHGHGH!!!!! :bitching: Horrible meet so far. One day more. I'm just saying to myself, "This meet isn't a foregone conclusion." That's one NY resolution unkept.

Ranting about other people in your swimming experiences is fun, but it sure sucks when the person you're ranting at is yourself. :bighug: And, I truly mean that; you have my sympathy- and empathy. I had my own personal rant at a swim meet, last month, that was a bummer for me. The day of the meet was freezing (literally) outside and it was a walk from the parking lot to the Georgia Tech pool. Once inside the pool area, it was quite hot and humid. But, then, the pool was 78 degrees; seven degrees cooler than where I swim regularly. I didn't gauge how much time my body needed to warm-up and I did the opposite of you; made sure I got practice time off the blocks, since there are no starting blocks where I swim. On my first breaststroke start, I kicked too wide on the pull out and strained an adductor. So, my 50 breaststroke race was bad; I couldn't get a good kick and my stroke count was high. I was nowhere near my PB. Then, on the 100, my leg tightened up in the cool water and it was a disaster. I also felt EXHAUSTED; I was having a Raynaud's attack from the cold and my body was not feeling right, at all. And, the heat and humidity of the pool air really got to me, because my body can't tolerate heat, either, even though I mentally love it! Right after I got out of the pool, my face was red, but my toes were blue. I couldn't figure out if I was hot or cold; I felt like both at the same time! And, even though I was well-hyrdated and doing everything I could, physically, I felt horrible. Then, my leg tightened up so much that I couldn't walk normally. So, I scratched the 200 breaststroke, took a hot shower, then went home to put a heating pad on my leg. Couroboros, the best thing for both of us is to write off our bad experiences and look ahead to our next meet- and do everything we can in our control to make things right. (I, for one, am checking in with the doctor, tomorrow. And, I plan on warming up more at my next meet!) Good luck! :cheerleader: And, most importantly, don't be too hard on yourself and have FUN! :D

it's not the swimmers, it's the guys that come out of the sauna all sweaty and decide to jump in the pool to cool off. the remind me of the pig pen character from peanuts. a film cloud resonates from around their bodies as they just float in the water.

What is frustrating is that I felt I didn't swim my best, and that I somehow blew my chance at seeing real improvement on my 100 free 'cos I couldn't get psyched up enough, and the fly didn't flow. Bit of an anticlimax really. :bighug: Ok, 'Fly, you get a hug, too!

Okay, I'm cool now (and I've realized the meet isn't a foregone conclusion). I still want to vent, though. So today started off well. I dropped 1.5 seconds in the 100 back, my first event, to get a new time of 1:16 flat. I did my cooldown; in retrospect, I don't think the cooldown was long enough. That was one mistake. But the biggest mistake today was when the pool was open for warm-up, I remember looking across the pool at the people practicing dives in lanes open for race starts. I remember thinking to myself, "I don't need to practice that. Nah, I'll just get in right here and warm-up." I paid the price for my tiny, microscopic moment of arrogance. When I started to get up behind the blocks for my second event, the 100 free, I went "oh ****." The block was old, slippery, and SMALL! I swear, the blocks at this pool were made for leprechauns or something. As I got on it, I had barely enough time to gain stable footing before being told to take my mark. After taking my mark, I wobbled a little. The block was so small, my legs aren't accustomed to being arranged in starting position in such a cramped little area. When the buzzer went off, I dropped in, so badly that I broke my streamline. I went 1:00.83, almost two full seconds slower than my PB set last month. After that, I was so down that I blew off my cooldown. Another mistake. That probably affected my 200 breaststroke and later my 100 fly, both of which I did not do very well in. Ranting about other people in your swimming experiences is fun, but it sure sucks when the person you're ranting at is yourself.