You're supposed to slide down the slide to start your set!

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

But then do you start timing from when you hit the slide, or when you hit the water?!



I wish MY pool had a slide!

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Francios -

yes, you are correct. some pools are definately slower than others. faster pools will have gutters that are at the water line allowing the water to spil over minimizing bounce back, deeper water, no "spa type" water spouts, optimal temperature, etc.. there are lots of things that can go into making a pool faster. but most pools like the one's you were referring to were built to be mulit-purpose (ie, swim lessons, aqua-aerobics classes, low budget, etc) rather than pure racing pools. so just enjoy them for what they are...open water, butter churning washer machines. if it doesn't kill you it will only make you stronger.

I've never noticed much speed difference in fast versus slow pools, and definately not 5 seconds per 100m. For me, water temperature and the ability to draft others are bigger factors.

When you're as crummy a swimmer as me they're all slow. It feels like I'm swimming in toothpaste. Even if I swim the wrong way in an Endless Pool I'm slow. One word: Wetsuit. At my last triathlon an 11 year boy beat out of the water. As a swimmer, I'm a fine cyclist.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom: You're welcome to join us at Royal Oak Dondero H.S. on Tuesdays and Thursdays (8:30pm-10pm) for masters swimming. We'll get that toothpaste turned into gravy. :)

Francois: As for cold weather, I prefer a cool 70F day, but I greatly appreciate cold weather's ability to test and toughen ones character and resolve. :)

Waves are the thing that slow you down. But 30 years ago I decided not to blame the pool anymore after I watched a high-school team-mate set the american high school record for 400 yard freestyle in what was supposed to be the slowest pool in town. And he said he didn't set out to get a record, he just felt good and swam as hard as he could. Safe to say that everyone in attendace was stunned. (BTW, he went on to win the 200 fly at the munich olympics!)

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"My strategy is to start out slow and then peter-out altogether" Walt Stack

Hey Todd, Thanks for the invite, but I'm so embarrassed by my swimming I never let anyone see me do it. Have a good holiday!

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

That sounds about right (5 sec. a hundred) for a full practice of sets (obviously if a good swimmer did an all out 100 it would not be 5 sec slower than his best)

One of the fastest pools in the world (not sure how this conclusion was reached, but it was the general consensus of several very good coaches) is the very deep, wide guttered, warm and "soft water" diving well of an Orlando FL, Olympic size YMCA pool.

PS, never underestimate the ability to draft in a pool, even with heavy duty lane lines.

Janet Evans set a couple of world records, as I recall, at the Aquatics Center in Orlando. It is definitely still one of the faster pools in the country, though the building is falling down around it. If I want to set a PR for a swim I go down to I-Drive and hit that pool. By comparison, we have a pool in Longwood, just North of Orlando, where a lot of USAS meets are held and it is about 3-4 seconds per hundred slower (freestyle). Non-turb lane lines, high gutters, proper water flow (In and out and velocity), salinity, distance (yes! many pools are not within the distance spec!), temperature, block type and height, and water depth all add or subtract from the total picture.

Of course, for triathletes, what difference does it make? :) j/k

Happy Holidays!

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I always wondered if the timing pads at the ends of the pool would shorten the pool a half an inch or so a lap, helping knock an extra few tenths off of times. On pool length in general, i have heard of one study that measured all of the lanes in an unnamed competition pool, and found them to vary enough to affect the times of swimmers in different lanes. I always wondered if i got screwed over by a slightly longer lane when i lost by 1 hundredth of a second a few years ago.

Ben: Yes, the length of the pool is supposed to include an extra few inches for the touch pads per recent specs. Most older pools simply get out of spec because of the natural expansion that occurs over time and many were built before touch pads were widely used. It's entirely possible you won races in which you placed second if the difference was very slight. This is one argument for always racing the complete distance! How many age-groupers have we seen glide into the pads only to lose by a tenth? Swim racing is sooooo technical. If most folks learned a little more about it they'd really enjoy watching the races and swimming. It's such a great sport. My hope is that swimming does not die in America; and I'm pinning those hopes, in part, on the triathletes who have kids. SEND THEM TO THE LOCAL USAS TEAM! TODAY! You will only regret it after you drive them to the 50th meet in a year. :) (I think I've done that....)

Happy Holidays!

Robert, who got lots of bike stuff with his Hannukah gelt!

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Natalie Coughlin's recent 100 back WR was at the old Hall of Fame pool in Ft. Lauderdale, which is decidedly too shallow to be considered fast.

And geek that I am, I headed over to USS's web site to look at pool specs. Per their rules, the allowed variation in length is 3 cm. Touch pad dimensions are not allowed to exceed 1 cm.

And water temperature is supposed to be 78-80F.

It's been awhile, obviously, since I read the specs. :) Oh, well, I wonder when the last time was a pool that wasn't being used for a national meet was measured? :) Probably never! I cannot remember seeing any official at the State and regional meets checking pool length. I'll bet few pools over 10 years old meet the spec. Then what? Ooooh, Robert you troublemaker....

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I wonder if they measured the pool AFTER her record? :),

-Robert, who wouldn't want anyone asking USAS too many questions.

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

This came up in US Masters swimming last year. It seems that at short course meters meet the pool was short by less than an inch and it voided all the times swam there. So the times could not be used for top tens or for world records.

In us masters the pool has to be measured any time a bulkhead is reset or if work is done to the pool that may affect the length. In the case that brought it all up, they had done some work on the tile.

I would think a pool for a championship would be measured BEFORE the race. :),

As in: "Well, Mr. Kannouchi, we didn't measure the marathon course until AFTER the race and it was only 26.18 miles. Sorry, no world record." :),

I feel sorry for the guys in that meet who qualified! Perhaps we need a way to adjust times for pool length discrepancies?

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Yes, which is one reason why there are NO meaningful world records in triathlon. Each course and day are sui generis. I think that gives tri a certain non-symmetrical beauty. :), Adventure racing is a natural extension of this concept, of course.

But, world records are kept for swimming, foot, and bike races (track being the most meaningful). Exact distances seem essential to the integrity of the records. (But, since the integrity of the aforesaid records has been besmirched already by the overwhelming presence of drugs, quelle difference?)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

There's no such thing as a slow pool... it's just that some make you work harder. =)

Big D

Ever try one that's not level? Swimming uphill is a bitch!

Zombie post! Back from the dead.