Hello~
Since nearly everyone in my office knows that I swim, I seem to be getting all of the questions/comments about swimming at the Olympics.
I got an interesting question....
Have you swum in a pool where the Olympics swimming events took place?
Offhand, I don't know the answer for myself. I just spent 30 minutes googling, and although I can find the cities where the Olympics took place, I can't find the sites where swimming specifically took place. If anyone has a list (or knows where one is), that would be great. I've been to many of the cities, toured Olympic stadiums, and could have possibly swam in some of the pools that were used.
Otherwise, it would be great to read some stories of others who have swum in pools where the Olympics took place. I asked 2 guys after our practice this morning, both had....1 in LA, the other in Moscow.
i swam in the munich pool at masters worlds in 2000. and the paris pool which is called georges valery. it is set up most of the time at 33 1/3 meter length. it is armed to armed combat swimming there.
Did a couple of workouts in the Sydney pool, once in 1998 before their Olympics, and once in 2007. Pretty cool both times. Though I was very disappointed with their lockerroom facilities.
-Rick
Last summer while I was living in Berlin I swam many times in the Olympiastadion pool. This was used in the 1936 Olympics. The pool is 50m outdoor with a diving well, and a small stadium around it. It is on the grounds with the Olympic stadium. If you take the stadium tour you can get a nice view of the pool and diving well.
I got an interesting question....
Have you swum in a pool where the Olympics swimming events took place?
I've tried to do this whenever possible and have managed to swim in:
* Los Angeles -- nothing special from my recollection
* Sydney -- a mecca for swimming; gorgeous exterior architecture, wonderful swimming stadium
* Montreal -- definitely aged, but still funky in a retro way.
I am still mad at myself for having been in Barcelona on a business trip and not making the time to go out to the pool. My father, though, swam in Barcelona. I gather from his report that you need to be extra careful about cleanliness -- you must swim with a cap, must shower before and must walk on the deck with some sort of flip-flop/footwear.
I've not swum in an Olympic facility in Tokyo, but have swum in pools there. There's also a strong "must wear a cap" rule there, which, for someone who only grudgingly wears a cap when forced to by certain open water race organizers, was a pain. The first time I swam in Tokyo, not only did I have to buy one onsite for some ridiculous sum, but, apparently, I have a much bigger head than even the largest-headed Japanese person. I felt like I was wearing a beanie. On the positive side, the pool was exceptionally clean and I had a 50M lane all to myself, something I gather is an extreme rarity in Japan.
I also swam in the Montreal pool and enjoyed swimming in an olympic pool. I try to swim in interesting pools when I travel and swam in a royal pool in
Edinburgh and managed to swim in the pool at Hearst castle at a private party.
interesting, didn't know that about swimming in Australia.
Word 'round the campfire is when the AU team came to Flagstaff to train at the Wall Aquatics Center, they swam clockwise whilst circle swimming.
A former swimmer at Sun Devil Masters now lives in Perth (AU) confirms that the Aussis swim the wrong way in the pool.
If those darn Brits had just put the steering wheel on the other side...
Been to Tech (Atlanta Olympic Pool) several times but as a spectator or a coach, havent' been in their YET. That should change this short course season.
I swam in the Montreal pool several years in a row in the early 90's. I liked it a lot-- funky and cool.
Visited the Barcelona facility but didn't swim in it. I was more interested in where the next sangria bar was at that time in my life.
To the guy who swam in the Hearst Castle pool-- that takes the cake. That must have been really cool.
I've swam in the 2000 Sydney pool. I've also swam in several 50m pools in central Sydney. I thought that one of those central pools was called the old olympic pool. Did I hear that correctly?
Yep. Aussies circle swim by swimming on the left. I got a lot of flak from one of the Aussie lifeguards when I had to confirm it "like the way Aussies drive on the left?" The lifeguard shot back "Don't get me started on how you Yanks drive!"
By the way, all of the pools that I swam in Australia were salt water. That was a bit different too.
