Yes, yes, I know... you all think that your pool is the worst (except those that train at UT or IUPUI). But before you vote, consider this:
- indoor 6-lane 25 yard pool, L-shaped
- built in 1969, with negligible upgrades since
- heated to at least 85 degrees
- operated by the city at a significant loss every year
- closes for three to four weeks every year (two for upgrades - aka cleaning - and two for "budgetary reasons")
- shared by the city, the high school, the local university and the swim club
- vacuumed once a week ("whether it needs it or not")
- lifeguards cannot be moved from their plastic chairs on the deck
- for lap swim, only two lane lines put in - not in lifeguards' job description to put in more
- patrons blatantly ignore the lane signs indicating "fast", "medium" and "slow"
- lifeguards do not enforce the above
- patrons of all types refuse to circle swim, and instead swim next to each other (again, with few or no lane lines)
- healthy mix of college girls in bikinis, college boys in board shorts, noodlers, and elementary backstrokers
Poll opens now.
Reading through the first four reasons, and I thought you lived here in Fairfax County. But we consider 85 degrees on the cool side. All in all, your pool sounds worse.
...
- patrons blatantly ignore the lane signs indicating "fast", "medium" and "slow"
- lifeguards do not enforce the above
...
- healthy mix of college girls in bikinis, college boys in board shorts, noodlers, and elementary backstrokers...
I think you'll find these things in any public pool. Some people think they're faster than they really are, some think they're slower, some just look for a lane with few people in it because they don't want to be crowded. Perhaps some left their glasses in the locker and can't read the signs. The lifeguards should be imposing circle swimming at least, but the only guards that I've ever seen actually do that were the mature unionized city employees in my home town. Where I'm living now, most guards are very young and unwilling to to give orders to adults.
As for the last item, I just consider it training for open water to make my way through the bodies. Noodles aren't allowed in the lap lane area, although there are few elderly people doing vertical breaststroke that I have to find my way around. And I just love it when the college boys in board shorts decide to "race" me. Yo, dude, lose your grandpa's bermuda shorts and get a swimsuit already! Then you wouldn't be humiliated by a pudgy 52 year old woman!
My HS team practiced in was a local YMCA. It was a 4 lane pool with minimal windows. Pool temps were in the mid-80s. The lanes were extremely narrow, meaning that you smashed knuckles with swimmers going in the other direction on fly or freestyle. The lane lines were old-school ropes with 5 or 6 buoys spaced. I remember a few mornings arriving at the pool at 5:30 a.m. and the pool temp was 90 and the color of the pool water was kelly green. We warmed up and that was about it.
Even with the crappy pool, my HS swim team was still ranked #5 in the US in Swimming World my sophomore year and won the state championship handily.
Berkeley Aquatics Masters has a large and successful Masters team, and their pool is pretty lousy. One wall is a homemade bulkhead with no lip or gutter, making butterfly and breaststroke turns almost impossible. They are building a new facility nearby so there is hope!
Have you tried the Benbrook, Texas YMCA pool?
25 yards, 6 lanes, tons of water walkers, temp is 85-86.
The walkers will stop you mid lap to remind you you are splashing too much.
The Y aquatic directors are spineless and will not resist the walker in regards to the pool temps.
I swim there when I need a good sinus infection.....
I'm happy with the University of Pittsburgh pools. Very, very happy.
A few decades ago, when I was a student here, it was not so nice.
World class pool, but no lane lanes for rec swim. This was OK up to about 2 swimmers per lane, but ugly after that. There were frequent harsh words between swimmers and occasional fisticuffs.
Rec swim would sometimes be in a much smaller pool.
The clock would run 6 or 7 minutes fast and the lifeguards would order people out a few mintues before that, so if you hit the pool half an hour before official cloosing time (as I often would), you were hosed.
For a while, there was some guy that would show up for the most crowded swim time in the small pool. He was buffed with long hair, beard and speedos.With a general "in-your-face" manner.
He would survey the pool, pick a space (not really a lane, no lane lines) next to the most comely female swimmer. No matter how crowded that space would be. No matter how open some other part of the pool would be. (not very open, but still...) He had his priorities, after all.
He would dive in (reading the "no diving" sign was, evidently, beyond his literary skills) and proceed to do about 20 yards of splashy, unstraight "butterfly" sprint, then turn around and repeat.
There are very few people I know this information about, but he was pretty good with his fists, too. I know this from watching, not participating.
I think he was eventually banned, but it it was a long time before the other problems improved.
After that rec swim hell, pretty much anything looks good to me.
Now, the same facilities are well run. I always thank the lifeguards when I'm done.
