Hey, solo swimmers! :wave: Welcome to the thread for all of us who train solo. Whether you train on your own due to a lack of a Masters team in your area (or for any other reason), this is our virtual locker room. Please post training tips that you think would be helpful, or anything else you would like to share with the rest of us. Have a rant? Go ahead and vent here! :rantonoff:
I'll start with a tip:
The most frustrating thing for me training solo is not having a coach on deck to evaluate my stroke and keep me on track, so I bought a waterproof camera and enlisted the help of my husband to periodically shoot video of all four strokes. Shooting underwater video became a knee/back buster, so I bought a camera mount and attached it to PVC pipe, so my husband could stand up straight to shoot underwater video. The camera gets dunked underwater, and he twists the pipe to pan the camera as I swim by.
Today, I bought a 2-pack of 12-inch "Gear Tie" reusable rubber twist ties (available at Home Depot), so I can tie the PVC pipe to the pool ladder (located in the corner of the pool) and shoot video myself. (If I angle the camera just right and keep it on wide angle, I can video me coming and going.)
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After each video session, I upload the videos to my desktop computer and compare my stroke to my favorite Go Swim stroke videos to see what I'm doing well (or not). I also post them on the Forums for feedback.
Ok, solo swimmers, what's your tip?
Reading some of the comments here makes me incredibly grateful for the 8-lane pool at my Y. They can have three lanes for water aerobics, three lanes for the swim team practice, and still have a couple of lanes left over for lap swimmers. In addition, there is a small pool, so people who are doing water exercises or getting in with their babies won't be taking up space in the lap lanes. Plus, the lifeguards and team coaches are generally good about moving people around if the big pool gets crowded and a newcomer can't get a space in a lane for a workout. The building hours are good and the times for lap swimming are generally reasonable--there is usually at least one lane open, if not more, and as soon as team practice/ aerobics class ends, the lifeguards open those lanes as well.
What I don't understand is why the aerobics class always needs three lanes. I get this when there are 20 people, but do 5-6 people need three entire lanes to themselves? On the bonus side, the class is scheduled to run until 8:45, but generally everyone gets out by 8:30, so those lanes open up.
The locker rooms were renovated last year and now have suit spinners. Now, if they could only get rid of the persistent funky smell, all would be good.
Seriously, this is the best facility I've had the pleasure of using since I was in grad school at Syracuse and had the use of two 25-meter pools (that were always kept nice and COLD). My Y pool is on the cool side, but I'd really prefer it 5-7 degrees colder.
Reading some of the comments here makes me incredibly grateful for the 8-lane pool at my Y. They can have three lanes for water aerobics, three lanes for the swim team practice, and still have a couple of lanes left over for lap swimmers. In addition, there is a small pool, so people who are doing water exercises or getting in with their babies won't be taking up space in the lap lanes. Plus, the lifeguards and team coaches are generally good about moving people around if the big pool gets crowded and a newcomer can't get a space in a lane for a workout. The building hours are good and the times for lap swimming are generally reasonable--there is usually at least one lane open, if not more, and as soon as team practice/ aerobics class ends, the lifeguards open those lanes as well.
What I don't understand is why the aerobics class always needs three lanes. I get this when there are 20 people, but do 5-6 people need three entire lanes to themselves? On the bonus side, the class is scheduled to run until 8:45, but generally everyone gets out by 8:30, so those lanes open up.
The locker rooms were renovated last year and now have suit spinners. Now, if they could only get rid of the persistent funky smell, all would be good.
Seriously, this is the best facility I've had the pleasure of using since I was in grad school at Syracuse and had the use of two 25-meter pools (that were always kept nice and COLD). My Y pool is on the cool side, but I'd really prefer it 5-7 degrees colder.
