The noodlers have succeeded, again, in getting the pool temperature raised to 86 degrees! :bitching: I have sent an e-mail to the American Red Cross, however, the more information I gather, the better! If any of you have any published articles on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it!
Here is the e-mail I sent to the American Red cross:
Hello,
I live in an adult community with an indoor swimming pool. After doing internet research, I am still not sure of a definitive recommendation of appropriate water temperatures for the following:
1. Adults (55 years old or older) swimming laps and/or participating in water aerobics who have high blood pressure or other heart conditions.
2. Adults (55 years old or older) swimming laps and/or participating in water aerobics who have diabetes.
In addition, what is the recommended air temperature and humidity percentage for an indoor pool?
The pool temperature in our community was raised from 84 to 86, so I am trying to build a case for lowering the temperature to suit the needs of the majority of our residents. And, it is my guess that most of the residents using the pool have either high blood pressure, other heart conditions, diabetes, or other health conditions making it a health risk to exercise in 86 degree water.
Any assistance and documentation you can provide would be most appreciated!
Thank you very much,
Elaine Krugman
Thanks, Forumites, for any documentation you send my way! By the way, if you can post links in the forums, perhaps it would help others, as well, who are battling the same issues. If you have articles to send as attachments, please send me a PM and I will provide you my e-mail address.
Thanks!
Elaine
P.S. Anna Lea: If you see this, does USMS have any "official" documentation at your offices?
I swam in an outdoor recreation/ competition pool in Germany that wasn't heated, and temperature (in summer) was 20 degrees C. Intervals? No way! Once I was in, I kept going non-stop just to stay warm!
When I was in Sydney, Australia in October I really wanted to swim at Bondi Icebergs. On the day I went there, the water temperature was posted as 18C (about 64-65F). Just before I was about to jump in, a wave crashed over the pool deck, the water felt freezing, and I nearly gave up. But I persisted. I jumped in, and did kind of a breaststroke for the first 50, but kept my head above water. After 50, I did a flip turn, and mostly swam normally (other than when waves crashed over) for about a 1500.
I think what really helped was that it was a sunny day.
After resting for a bit, I actually got back in and swam I think another 500.
I wore 2 suits and a cap. I know the cap definitely helped (I rarely wear one), and the 2 suits probably helped more psychologically.
I did notice that overall all of the pools I visited in Australia were kept a bit cooler. Other than an indoor pool in Melbourne (Melbourne City Baths, which I would NOT recommend), most were kept at about 23C to 25C. I swam at Brunswick Baths near Melbourne, Tobruk pool in Cairns, and Andrew Boy Charlton and North Sydney both in Sydney, and all 50m pools (and mostly had my own lane too). While the view from North Sydney is to die for (I did more backstroke there just so I could see the bridge while I swam), the ABC pool is a fantastic facility and I highly recommend visiting if in Sydney.
Awww, you're killin' me, AZ! I spent six months in Australia the first time I went, and I have been back several times since. I remember every city you mentioned very well, and I swam at Bondi years ago. You are right about that view from North Sydney. I love the bridge, and the Sydney Opera House is my favorite modern architecture of anything I have ever seen.
It sounds like you had a great time down under! :chug:
My record is 59 F.
The location:
The famous Keating Natatorium
The time:
Late November in Cincinnati (late 1990s)
The scene:
Natatorium undergoing its first renovation since it was built in ‘61. One whole wall going the length of the pool (so about 75 meters) has been torn down to be rebuilt. There is nothing but blue tarps between us and the elements. Keating. Natatorium pool used to not be heated (it still might not be I don’t know now).
We had practice. Someone went and got hot chocolates in little cups from White Castle. We drank those while we did a 45 minute workout. We were told the pool temperature was 59 by someone in the know. I believe it. Coldest water I have ever been in.
I wanted to wait for the LCM pool at the LRRC to get to 58 so I could break my record. But while I was waiting for the temperature to get low enough, no one else was using the pool, so before it even got below 60, they closed it up for the winter :/
Cold water immersion is proven to have health benefits, and probably more we don’t know about, but for racing performance and training, optimal water temperature varies from person to person, not so much the activities.
For me, I don't know why, but 21°C pool produces better T/T result than 26°C pool for me. However, 17°C is another story, I got much slower when I tried 1500 m the first time in a pool of such temperature, even desperately wanting to make a year-end goal, probably because I haven't been acclimatised to that temperature yet.
Where are you that there are open pools that are keeping their water 21 degrees C and below? That's pretty extreme. Here in the U.S. your typical pool that is used for both rec swimming and training is kept around 28 on average. I can say with confidence that there is zero chance a pool would be open to public at 17 C (63 F).
Where are you that there are open pools that are keeping their water 21 degrees C and below? That's pretty extreme. Here in the U.S. your typical pool that is used for both rec swimming and training is kept around 28 on average. I can say with confidence that there is zero chance a pool would be open to public at 17 C (63 F).
I swam in an outdoor recreation/ competition pool in Germany that wasn't heated, and temperature (in summer) was 20 degrees C. Intervals? No way! Once I was in, I kept going non-stop just to stay warm!
Where are you that there are open pools that are keeping their water 21 degrees C and below? That's pretty extreme. Here in the U.S. your typical pool that is used for both rec swimming and training is kept around 28 on average. I can say with confidence that there is zero chance a pool would be open to public at 17 C (63 F).
The pool is not temperature-regulated, therefore in summer time it may go up to 34°C which caused squad training to move away temporarily, and in late autumn people start wearing wetsuit in the squad training. The lowest I've ever seen is 13°C, that's real cold water swimming.
Outdoor pool in my town isn't heated- it can be pretty chilly in the early season or after cool nights. It always runs pretty cool in general - no more than 75F/23C. The local kids I babysit for can barely stand it for more than 15 minutes if they're just playing - they just turn into kidsicles. (Kids are always running back in to the showers to warm up) On the swim team, it was better, but we were moving. Ironically, the town lake is actually warmer in general, even in the "deep end".
In the squad training today in a heated pool (around 28°C) the coach put me a tempo trainer and made me do sets with increasing spm. I started with 60, then 64. I felt 64 was roughly what I was normally doing in my own practice (in a cool pool around 20°C), and I started feeling hot. Afterwards it was 68, and I immediately jumped out of the pool after completing the set, and the last set was 70, which made me feel like hell, on completion of the set I could not concentrate what the coach was saying.
It is still more than 2 months left before the squad will move back to a non-heated pool, and the coach is trying to push us to the limit every week. Every session is exhausting for me.
That is... not normal.
My ice swimmer friend told me he made PBs at around 20 - 21°C, and also refuses to swim in hot water races because of serious overheating. Maybe I have potential to become an ice swimmer also?
Update: I have experimented stroke rate with my tempo trainer pro today, and I could easily fire up about 5 spm more in 20°C pool than in the squad training in 28°C heated pool with the same intensity level. My form started to deteriorate at about 69 spm in the squad, but at 75 spm today.
