Redirected to General swimming: Training while on business
Former Member
I recently spent 2 weeks away from my home pool while on business trips. The Places to Swim section of USMS.org was extremely helpful in finding 2 great venues with flexible workout times. Thanks to coach Brooke Pate at Huntsville Swim Association and Coach Paul Smith at Mesa Masters for allowing me to participate at their terrific venues. It was awesome to meet and participate with welcoming coaches and swimmers. It made being on the road for business much more productive.
Part II of this post is a plea to all masters programs out there. PLEASE update the information for your club in the Places to Swim section. There are many clubs/venues listed but easily 75% of the information is out of date and has not been updated in years. If your club has a website, list it. If you don't have one, at least list a point of contact and some of the other basic information. I also thought it was terrific of both coaches to extend the courtesy of allowing drop-in swimmers. Business travel is generally a pain. Welcome out of town'ers to your workouts.
Thanks, Tree
Great points you bring up, I've also had some challenges finding pools and/or teams in some areas while I've travelled. If you check out the blogs section, look for Patrick's blog. Hr manages to squeeze in workouts whenever he can, even while on overseas biz trips.
Did you swim in the mornings at Mesa? I think I met you but didn't realize you were on the forums.
Tim,
Thanks, I think we met at the Kino pool while I was out in AZ at the end of Jan. I checked out your blog. I'm the 'stocky' one you referred to. No harm, I thought it was funny! I'm not your prototype swimmer. Its fun to get people's reaction to the linebacker-built guy getting in the pool.
Tree
You can get some kick work done at the 10 yd shallow warm hotel pools.
Also: http://www.ymca.net/maps/
and: google location pool or swimming
you'll get mostly pools sales outlets but sometimes local schools that have public lap swim will result as well as local health clubs with pools.
If you belong to a chain health club, check their reciprocal listings
I have used the places to swim link to find places to swim as well. I have enjoyed the opportunity to continue my training while traveling and meet some great swimmers as well. It is a great resources and a very nice benefit of being a member of USMS. As a YMCA member, I have also had good luck finding a Y to swim in. I second the suggestion that workout groups update their listings as many are quite old. (I will work on updating our list in Maine!)
I also enjoy finding masters groups to swim with when I'm away on business travel. I love the occasional exposure to different coaches & workout groups. But the stale info in the Places to Swim section certainly makes it more frustrating than it needs to be.
One thing that helps is to check the LMSC link. Those web pages sometimes list local workouts, and are often kept more current than the USMS info.
