Where to Swim

Where do you go to put all your new stuff to best use? As with any activity, the environment affects your enjoyment of swimming, influencing how often you participate in it and how long you stick with it. Sometimes you have little choice over where you swim. If there’s only one swimming hole available and only one hour of the day for lap swimming, then you have to make due. Usually, though, you will have a variety of swimming options from which to choose. Swimming in different pools, at different times of day, with different people, sometimes in open water—all these things tend to make for a fulfilling swimming experience. Always be on the lookout for a swimming experience that’s different from your normal routine.

Pool Swimming

 

Most lap pools in the United States are either 25 yards or 25 meters in length and are referred to as short-course pools. In many hotel, motel, and fitness facilities, space limits a pool’s size to 20 yards in length, sometimes even to 15 yards. Long-course pools have 50-meter lanes (this is the length of a

an Olympic-size pool), and most are either 25 yards or 25 meters wide so that, during certain periods or seasons, the lane lines can be installed across the pool to allow for short-course swimming.

The only requirements for a lap pool are clean, clear water that is at least a meter deep and wave-quelling lane markers, which are tightly stretched cables with 3- to 5-inch (8 to 13 cm) diameter floats and discs that run the length of the pool. They define and control the space for swimming laps and absorb most surface waves. Ideally, you’ll find a pool that has a section with deep water—there are a couple of drills you will learn that will require it.

78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5 to 27.8 degrees Celsius) is considered an optimal temperature range for lap swimming. 78 degrees will likely seem cold at first, but once you have been moving for a while, it’ll feel fine. A strenuous workout in water over 82 degrees can get uncomfortably warm, and in water over 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius), you can risk overheating. On the other end of the spectrum, most people can adapt over time to temperatures in the high 60s Fahrenheit (upper teens to low 20s Celsius) as long as they continue working hard enough to maintain body temperature. Temperature in indoor pools is usually controlled within a degree or two. Outdoor pool temperatures are affected more by the weather, but in some parts of the country, outdoor pools operate year-round. They are heated with gas, solar, or geothermal systems in the winter and they are cooled by aeration or geothermal systems in the summer.

Swimmers commonly complain about chlorine, which tenaciously attaches itself to the skin and hair. Consistent exposure can also make hair feel and act like straw. Your skin and hair absorb water, mostly when you first get wet. If you take a shower, so that tap water is absorbed first, it tends to block out pool water, which typically has 2 to 10 times as much chlorine as tap water. A cap will help even more, especially if you rub a dab of conditioner into your wet hair first.
 

                                            Lap-Swimming Etiquette

 

Whether swimming as part of a group workout or just by yourself during a crowded lap-swim session, you are likely to share lane space with others from time to time. Everyone’s water time is more enjoyable when everyone knows and lives by the basic rules of swimming etiquette. You don’t want to be charged with antisocial behavior while nearly naked.

Read the Signs Your pool may have signs with the local guidelines for swimming etiquette, lane speed, circle patterns, use of equipment, and the like. If so, follow the posted rules.

Equipment Neatly stack any personal equipment at the pool’s edge in order to leave room for other swimmers’ equipment and to minimize tripping hazards. Mark your personal equipment to avoid confusion.

Fragrances, Hair Products, Skin Products A small percentage of people are adversely sensitive to the fragrances in various hair and skin products. Deep breathing during exercise and nasal irritation from chlorine in the water tend to make a larger percentage of swimmers ultrasensitive during workouts. Fragrant hair and skin products rinse off in the pool and become concentrated at the surface, right under people’s noses. Even fragrance-free products end up in the pool—and thus in other swimmers’ ears, eyes, noses, and mouths. Please, take a shower before you hit the water.

Oral Hygiene You will be breathing heavily near other heavy breathers. Avoid embarrassment and make your presence a joy to others by brushing your teeth and using mouthwash just before hitting the water.

Sports Drinks and Coffee A crowded lane usually has a number of beverage bottles at the end of it on the deck. Be sure to mark yours plainly to avoid midworkout confusion. Coffee is never an appropriate pool-edge beverage, even with a lid on your cup. It has a strong odor that easily wafts across several lanes. Many people find the odor unpleasant (or downright nauseating) when breathing deeply. (As for coffee breath, see the previous paragraph.)

Selecting and Entering a Lane Never dive into a lane that has people swimming in it. Find a lane where swimmers of your speed are doing their laps and communicate with them so that they know that you are about to join them. If they are swimming nonstop, slip feet-first into the right-hand corner of the lane and stay there long enough for everyone to cycle through the lane and to see that a new swimmer is about to join the fray. Then begin swimming at the same speed as the rest of the people in that lane.

Circle Pattern Three or more swimmers in a lane must swim in a circle pattern in order to avoid head-on collisions—each swimmer stays to the right of the lane. Each swimmer should leave at least a five-second gap between himself or herself and the next swimmer. If you stop for any reason, it is your responsibility to stay out of the way of everyone who is still swimming.

Drafting Just as in cycling, swimming close behind somebody allows you to benefit from the effort of that swimmer. It may be tempting to tuck in behind someone and let that swimmer do most of the work, but it is considered bad form and can lead to ugly locker-room gossip.

Passing and Getting Passed Even in well-matched lanes, passing or getting passed is sometimes unavoidable when circle swimming. In general, the person doing the passing should move to the center of the lane, speed up, and finish the pass quickly. The slower swimmer should anticipate being passed, stay close to the lane rope, slow down a bit, and let the faster swimmer pass quickly. Stopping briefly in the corner to allow a faster swimmer to turn and take the lead is okay. A tap on your foot means someone wants to pass you—act accordingly. If you are frequently passing people or being passed, you probably belong in another lane.

At the Wall Regardless of how many swimmers are using a lane, it is everyone’s responsibility to keep clear the center third of the wall for other swimmers who are either turning or finishing. When you stop at the wall, move quickly to a corner of the lane.

Do Unto Others Treat your lane partners with respect and expect the same from them. Even a crowded lane can be a joy when everyone has this attitude.

When the Party’s Over As soon as you’ve finished your workout, leave the lane and let someone else use it.

 

Open-Water Swimming

 

Many swimmers eschew the black line for a more natural setting. Virtually anywhere you can find clean water warmer than 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.8 degrees Celsius), you will find open-water swimming enthusiasts. Experts agree that you should always swim in a properly supervised open-water swimming area. You can easily get into trouble if you swim on your own, especially if you are swimming in an unfamiliar area or in conditions you aren’t used to. Properly supervised, open-water swimming is a great way to log many unfettered miles, and it gives the sport a whole new feel. Try an ocean, lake, or quarry swim sometime. This is where true distance swimming takes place—everything else is just practice.