If you don't mind the constant turning then it can work. 2-3 times a week is basic maintenance. 4 or more times a week and you'll improve. At least, that's how it's worked for me. You'd be better off swimming with a masters program but, for some, that doesn't work for their schedule, budget or location.

Sure it's worth it. I swam 4 years in HS in an old 20 yd YMCA pool and improved a bunch, and so did most everyone else on the team. We swam duel meets against other Ys in the region and certainly the 25 yd pools seemed/were longer but we were able to compete just fine. This 20 yd pool served the swimming teams at this Y for around 70-80 yrs until they finally remodeled the building and put in an 8 lane, 25 yd pool back around 2008.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I actually disagree with ericmulk on this one.

Two factors why I think you should PASS on this one -

1. $30/month for a crappy totally suboptimal swim situation? NO thanks. If you were getting it for free or near-free, I'd say go for it and use a tether if you have to , but for $30/month, just save your money and drive to a real pool to get your swim training, even if it means less sessions. I've swam in 20yd pools before in a health club, and seriously, unless you're there with a squad, it totally sucks - your benchmarks are all screwed up, and odds are good it's not even 20yds, but something 'near 20yds' meaning anywhere from 16-24 yds (!). I would do it if it were a hotel pool, but only 1-3x.

2. You're a FOP triathlon swimmer. So you don't need tons of pool time to improve your swimming anymore; you mainly need 'just enough' sessions not to massively deteriorate. Even small deterioration won't hurt you at all, esp if you improve your bike/swim as a result (you'll likely benefit!) So there's no need to plan on lots of access to a subpar pool - might as well cut back on the swimming but make it really count for when you do it.

He said he has not been swimming at all so he can't really cut back from zero. :) Besides, some sort of pool is better than no pool and $30/month is not outrageous considering it is a gym presumably with treadmills, bikes, weights, etc. Swimming in a 20 yd pool is much better than zero swimming and will allow him to swim closer to the front in bigger races. Three swims a week at an hour per swim is not going to break most people's time bank and will still leave time to improve on the B and R.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

You will see swim gains if you swim the right way, whether it's a 20y pool or 25y or a hotel pool or a pond in your backyard.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it to you to swim better because you were swimming? If there's literally no other option I would rather swim than not. Some swimming > no swimming. Are there any HS or colleges locally that have open lap hours? Most people I know go to a completely different facility for their swimming workouts than their gym workouts, because most all-encompassing gyms give you some crappy off-length pool and tell you it's Olympic size or some BS like that, whereas local aquatic centers or colleges actually have 25y or sometimes 50m pools.

In an effort to keep costs down the local Tri club I train with swims in some pools that are far far from ideal. Ever swum with a group in a small pool without real lane lines? Its like constant rough open water swimming training.

Coming from a decent swim background (albeit years and years ago) I find my swim times don't vary much if I train once per month vs 2-3 times a week under these conditions BUT my bike times do. I can always come out of the water on the feet of the front pack but if I haven't been doing the swim training I immediately get dropped on the bike. As my swim volume increases I am better able to hang on during the bike for a bit longer.

I am a strong runner and a weak cyclist which is probably why I suffer on the bike but not on the run. However I would guess a lot of people pay for their lack of swim training on the run. Overall (and this has been discussed a number of times on ST) the swim is the easiest part of the Tri to fake so it can appear you get away without having to train in the pool. Appearances can be deceiving though as you may be haemorrhaging time later in the race for burning too many matches early on.

Sure, longer pools would be better, but is it worth it if that's your easiest/cheapest option? Sure. Whatever it takes.

I swim in a 20yd pool when I can't get to the longer ones or swim outside. For me, It's in the 1 second per 100 range 'faster' than a 25yd pool. All those extra flip turns are good for leg strength too.

I spent most of my club swimming days in a 20 yd pool. I think it lends itself well to the USRPT style of training. So no turn, just lots & lots of fast 20’s. I remember once xmas break I had to do 400x20, IM. 100 fly, 100 back....on relatively short rest (sendoff maybe every 20s). That wasn’t really crazy in a 20 yd pool, you could really focus on good stroke mechanics, & would be much different in a 25 yd pool.

Yes. Your body doesn't know the difference b/t 20-25 yards. The swimming in between turns is still swimming.

My freshman year in high school our swim team trained in a 20 yd pool. I did just fine as did my team mates. We had some state finalists and I personally dropped my 500 free time by about 30 seconds by the end of the season. It is not an ideal training environment but in teh grand scheme of things, training in a 20 yd pool is about 98% as good as training in a 50 meter pool, 99% as good as a 25 yd/meter pool and no question 10,000% better than skipping swimming altogether and hanging out in the gym instead.

I'd think of it like this. If someone told you you could only ride a road bike this winter, how smart would it be to totally drop all riding because you could not get on a tri bike?

It's certainly worth giving it a go if it's your only/easiest option. From experience I had a 20m pool at work and it was the only pool I could get to most of the time so just tried to make the most of it. I made a point of pushing off the wall as little as possible so there was no glide from the wall. I can't flip turn which made this easier to achieve.

Another comment - while you do more turns in a 20 yd pool for a given distance, that can be a bit misleading when talking about a typical tri swimmer. If you compare a serious competitive swimmer to a "normal" tri swimmer, the fast guys turns are so much better that the tri guy is actually just getting a similar experience in a 20 yd pool that a good competitive swimmer is getting in a 25 yd/meter pool. i.e. when you factor in turn quality and glide length, they both end up swimming about the same distance per length.

So, for a normal guy to move "down" to a 20 yd pool just means you are now getting about the same experience serious swimmers with good turns get in a "normal" 25 pool. Nobody, even Olympic level swimmers, would forgo swimming if only a 25 yd/meter pool was available and in fact even at the very highest levels of the sport, a decent amount of training is done in short course pools.

Nearest masters swim program is ~30 miles away, so time driving in traffic both ways + opportunity cost makes me think I'll probably be better of swimming in the local pool since it's 1/2 mile from home, even if it is a 4 lane ~20 yard pool.

Thanks!

Thank you for your thoughts and views on this! Swimming cannot be cut out any since I'm currently swimming 0 times a week (aside from the two times this week to test out the facilities).

I think you're right...the website states 20 yards but I've heard from numerous local gym goers that it's more like 16-17 yards

I appreciate your insight!

Thanks ericmulk! It's nice to see that athletes are able to make the most out of 20 yards. Like Austin Powers' father said... it's not the size mate, it's how you use it.

I like the concept that group swimming in a small pool may simulate some potential race scenarios. I come from a run and bike background, so swimming is a struggle for the first 5 minutes or so during a race until I find the rhythm, so I'm thinking that swimming more often will not hinder my run or bike training, especially during winter.... and will hopefully help get me used to the race pace efforts and finding the rhythm faster. Thanks!

This unfortunately happened to me when I was early on in my swimming days. Advertised 20yd pool was in reality probably 17ish yards.

When the pool is that small, at least in my experience, those 3 yards make a big difference. If it's a legit 20 yards, I could see myself doing legit workouts in it, but I'd recommend you go try it out for a week to see if it will work for you even if you're pushing the pace as a FOP swimmer.

In high school, we had 25 guys swimming in a 4 lane 20 yd pool and the 3 divers on the team did their practice at the same time, timing their dives to land in between swimmers. Looking back, it was pretty crazy but it certainly made mass start open water swims seem easy. At least you don't have humans falling out of the sky and landing next to you . . . .

There's a local, free community church gym I go to for strength training efforts, but if I got the membership to the gym with the pool... I'd probably end up centralizing my efforts at that gym with the pool since the equipment is a bit newer and nicer, plus there's a pool, even if it's 20 yards +/-

Thanks, STP and everyone for your input and honesty. I'll probably end up getting a membership and give the gym with the pool a go, pending wife approval...... at least for 3 months (minimum commitment).

Thank you, ST!

I remember once xmas break I had to do 400x20, IM.


Yikes, that would be hard to forget.

Looking back on it the swimming itself wasn’t crazy, the fact that we did this stuff with no thought given to nutrition or post exercise recovery is what is mind boggling.

I swam for a USS team growing up in the ultra high yardage 1980's. We did 3 afternoons a week in the pools 20 yard configuration with crappy non wave reducing styrofoam lane lines. We won Jr. nationals for men, sent 3 swimmers to senior nationals and 1 to the Olympic trials in 1988 (or 89?). (Wilmington Aquatic Club, Hall of Fame coach Bob Mattson) All high school kids. The 20 yard configuration was exactly ZERO impediment to improvement for anyone. We actually loved it! A 20 yard pool is a non issue. Or a handy excuse. Whichever you prefer.

Regarding the pool maybe being 17ish yd rather than 20 yd, the simplest way to resolve this to measure the pool. You could get a 25 yd tape measure, or use a wheel like those used to measure run and bike courses, or worst case the old yard stick. I've done this measurement on my pool and confirmed it at 25 yd.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."