Off the Deck

Outdoor pools? Pool age? Local pool design element?

I don’t know what the common factor is (or even if there is one) but the jets in the outdoor pools I’ve been swimming lately are awfully strong.

Not that this is new. I have long been aware of where jets push me off course per length per outdoor pool.

But seriously, what’s up with those jets? Last Saturday, for example, the jets in one spot in that particular 50m pool whooshed me over to the opposite side of the lane — really not a good thing when you’re circle swimming during practice. And a tweaky low back on one side the day after made me realize just how much I was altering my stroke and pace to fight that current.

I’m not sure what the answer is to the jet mystery. For what ever reason, they don’t seem as strong in indoor pools. Maybe the jet in the 50m pool I swam in last weekend was designed to prevent people from splamming into that wall after torpedoing into the water off the slide. But this doesn’t explain why jets push me back as I approach the wall to flip in another outdoor pool, this one 25m, unless it used to have a slide too.

Hmmm..maybe I should research pool engineering and design through the ages…

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist

Today I got my first outdoor swim of the season in — yay! I did a little 3,800 scm workout on my own, to get back into the swim of things after being grounded for almost a week due to the flu (yes, I was surprised too — who knew you could it so “late” in the season?)

It’s still pretty cool in the a.m. here, so I lucked out with my own lane. Other than me, two tri-geeks bolted after completing their designated free distance montage, and a older man was making starfish-like movements in the open area. Oh, and a goose was paddling in the lane next to me.

Obviously, I love swimming — anywhere, any time. But being outside is my prefered swim locale, even if it’s raining or cold. The big draw? Fresh and natural light. But, I have to admit that after growing up in upstate NY and now a Colorado resident for the past several years, outdoors equals summer which equals LCM, my all time favorite swim venue.

Plus, swimming outside first thing in the morning means I and/or my team have the pool to myself/ourselves. I get see, smell and hear all kinds of “summer essences” that make me happy — big blue sky, sunlight reflecting off moving water, birds flying overhead and chirping, fresh cut grass smell and lawn mower hum, teamates splashing and chatting, and my all time favorite (yes I am a swim dork) the whir of pool jets and filters.

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist

When I went back to the pool Monday (the one I swim in on weekday afternoons) after a two-week layoff spent battling the current version of circulating seasonal crud, I was really disappointed to see that the facility was closing on March 21, not April 1 as originally announced.

Not only was I was hoping to at least finish the month out with one training schedule, but the whole pool closure “panic-anger” emotional wave came whoosing back. Unfortunately the anger part only escalated when I heard about the pool’s fate: a parking lot.

Isn’t this type of decision-making exactly why we are not making any progress towards solving one “targeted” problem in America? You know, the whole “we’re a fat nation” thing. The basic message in this case? Drive more, move your body less.

Absolutely, the Fitzsimmons facility isn’t gleamingly new and slicked out with the latest technology. But it’s still a place to get a great session in, whether your training to compete, swimming laps to stay fit, a triathlete working on that first leg of races, an aqua jogger getting a solid but gentle-joint workout or a senior taking an aqua-arthritis class. And let’s not forget about all the kids who learn to swim there either. The facility serves a community. Shouldn’t that be enough of a reason to keep it?

Closing one more pool means more overcrowding and stress upon surviving facilites — a situation I have come to dread over the past few years as the economy continues to tank. I already feel frustrated and squeezed out of decent practice time and space. And, I can’t help but wonder where all the seniors with limited incomes and ability to get around on their own will go for their afternoon swim once the facility closes for good.

I will also really miss Fitzsimmons’ home-y, low-key atmosphere: affordable ($3.50 per swim), populated with lifeguards who greet everyone by name (and are adept at maximizing pool space to ensure everyone gets in the best workout for their ability level), classic rock music playing in the background, clanking weights as people lift on the upper deck, even the holiday decorations in the glass front doors.

R.I.P. Fitzsimmons

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist

Except for open water jaunts around the state (think reservoirs, lakes, etc.) during the summer, I am in chlorinated water for the majority of my swim time.

This past Sunday though, during my pool-o-rama week, I got a chance to swim in a “salt” water pool.

O.k., it wasn’t a true salt-water pool, fed by a near by ocean. Which is just as well, since I always spend more time re-releasing crabs and other sea creatures that wash into them during high tide than swimming…

But this pool still had a salt-based system sanitation system. The most noticeable difference? You needed directions to it since you couldn’t smell your way there. didn’t smell the pool first.

Less obvious? Maybe a slight buoyancy enhancement, but not enough to lower intervals. And, I did appreciate the lack of the “skin and hair so dry I feel mummified” post-swim effect (which always kicks in after chlorinated swims no matter how much I lather, shower and slather on various creams, lotions, oils and salves).

Final opinion? I might prefer this system over chlorine, especially if a lack of chemical gas fumes kept my asthma aggravation to a minimum. But…like most rec pools, this one was heated to the MAX. There’s no way I could regularly swim at a practice-level effort — those crazy rec pool temps melt my brain and then I blow up…

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist

Sunday morning, while swimming an ad hoc workout in a rec center pool with the super fast Ellie and SwimLabs owner Mike (who is also super fast), I realized that I had swum in almost every pool-type in one week.

I prefer a training routine — same pool, same practices week in and week out. For me, the stability allows me to stick to one team’s training cycle, maximize pool time, and my body does better on a schedule (for everything beyond swim practice as well — sleep, meals, weights, work, etc.)

But this past week, a travel work schedule combined with my home pool being closed over the weekend for an age-group meet had me hitting the road per swim. Which led me to swim in a variety of pools: 50m, 33&1/3y, 25y, 25m, 20y.

The pool range got me thinking — what else would be possible in a week? If it were summer, I could have added outdoor pools and open water to the mix. Or, thinking really big, I could formulate a “pools across America” tour or something. After all, theme trips have been organized around baseball stadiums, rollercoasters, specific culinary delights such as “deep dish pizza” and more.

I would need to narrow my focus though; “pools” is too broad for any region, home or abroad. Hmmm…

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist

This has been a strange week concerning pool-size. I feel a bit like Alice, finding worlds both larger and smaller than normal.

On Monday I met Jeff, the swimming math-savant, for a 90-minute workout in an old army base pool. Fitzsimmons is the first “33 & 1/3 yards” pool I’ve swum in. Absolutely, there must have been a specific use (and not “training to compete”) in mind when it was designed.

But what was it? Thanks to black tile markers along the legnth in increments of 10 feet, I realized that the real goal was a 100-foot pool. Is there some sort of mandatory 100-foot army swim test?

And what’s with the weird depth? After a level 3-and-a-half-feet for about three-quarters, the bottom drops off to about 12+ feet. If the army wasn’t running a swim team, why bother with a depth for a potential diving board? Did the army train scuba divers, even though other military forces specialize in water-maneuvers? Hmmm…maybe the pool pre-dates the separation of the army and navy into separate branches and thus the need for water training at an army base…

On the other hand, today’s pool, a community center facility, was too small — just 20 yards and four narrow lanes. And at 2 feet, “shallow end” isn’t a misnomer. I felt like a GIANT, which I never do because I’m barely 5′ 2″.

Obviously, this facility is a relic from days gone by too, maybe the “men’s bathing” ones. I’ve swum in a few 20-yard pools before though, and I’ve seen old swim meet results that highlight weird event-distances (220 free anyone?).

Yet, while 20-yards might be an old standard, I still don’t get why anyone would bother with the distance. Yes, pools are expsensive to build and maintain. But if you’re in for penny, you are for a pound. So build the biggest facility possible! Especially if the intent is to create a multi-use facility for swim teams, lessons, classes, etc.

All very peculiar. But, during a week of both business travel and cancelled team practices, you know the old saying — “a port in any storm” and all that…

Until next time,
Rebecca, swim evangelist