So sympathizee, Sam! I had something similar happen. All set for a long swim, and only about 600 yds in, they closed an INDOOR pool b/c the lifeguards heard thunder. If they didn't hear any in the half hour following, they would reopen. Of course, when the time was almost up, they heard more. I saw where things were headed, and I'm already not fast, so that swim didn't happen. Another time my swim was interrupted due to a kid puking. But that was going to be a short swim anyway, and I was almost done.
OK, I can't resist reviving this thread. Here is a real peril of lap swimming...
THE STUPID POOL IS CLOSED TODAY AND SO I CAN'T SWIM!
If I was a real marathon swimmer, I'd be out in a lake that can never close down. Well, except for ice or forest fires. But really, I'm just going crazy because I have all this energy that I can't burn off and so all I can do is post on this forum.
This isn't lap swimming, but pool swimming... but, I've been in the chlorine box so much lately my newly re-grown, still sensitive eyebrows are getting fried right off. Haha 🤣
@curly said:
OK, I can't resist reviving this thread. Here is a real peril of lap swimming...
THE STUPID POOL IS CLOSED TODAY AND SO I CAN'T SWIM!
If I was a real marathon swimmer, I'd be out in a lake that can never close down. Well, except for ice or forest fires. But really, I'm just going crazy because I have all this energy that I can't burn off and so all I can do is post on this forum.
Now I'm going to go shovel snow.
I would like to time myself for 1500 m today, but a f**king thunderstorm came just before I started the time trial so everyone had to get out, and I couldn't swim!
A thunderstorm makes no difference whether you swim in a pool or open water, so it can also destroy a swim in the ocean as well. Whenever there is a thunderstorm, no-one can swim.
@ssthomas said:
This isn't lap swimming, but pool swimming... but, I've been in the chlorine box so much lately my newly re-grown, still sensitive eyebrows are getting fried right off. Haha 🤣
I was swimming at the local gym pool (known for .... questionable..... water quality at times), and didn't realize how bad it had gotten. My hair dresser scolded me..... "you have chemical burns!!!!" I thought that what I was feeling in the hair at the bottom of my head/top of my neck was the typical "straw" that happens because the cap doesn't fit all the way down. Nope. I had holes.
They finally sent the water at that pool out for testing and it came back with Chlorine levels 10x higher than the highest level of recommendations. No wonder I had stopped needing to shave my legs!
Lap swimming where I live is hard. Our YMCA only has four lanes and has NO etiquette guidelines posted or enforced at all. Normally, the only way to get a good, long, uninterrupted set in is.....well, it's nearly impossible. It is a total crap shoot. The majority of people have some common sense, but way too many people are either rude, or clueless, or selfish when it comes to lane sharing. or even keeping their arms and legs in their OWN lane when swimming. I find that you just have to stay positive and do what you can do at any given time. It does hurt consistency of training however. I almost always feel like I'm irritating SOMEBODY when I train.
Wow, I see many people have to many issue, I live in Belgium, when I enter in the pool, there is usually 1 fast lane, 3 slow/normal and one double for recreational bathing. If I have someone slower in front I overtake him/her.. here is understood that you can overtake.. sometimes, near the wall with a fast flip turn. I usually manage to avoid the contact but if it happens I rise my hand to say sorry and keep going... Usually, after few laps and flips slow swimmer change lane (there is a board saying this is a fast lane) and I am the only one . But when other fast swimmers are there we share very nice and if I feel someone faster then me is approaching ,I make myself close to the side to give him/her way...
"Lap swimming where I live is hard. Our YMCA only has four lanes and has NO etiquette guidelines posted or enforced at all."
Yeah, my Y can be treacherous on occasion. When I'm ramping up training where I need a lane for a few hours, I'll bring the lifeguards bagels or cookies on a regular basis and they help to keep the noodlers and riff raff out of the lane. I don't mind splitting a lane with people who know what they're doing, though. I'll also enlist some of the folks on my team to come swim with me for a bit which helps control who is there with me as well.
We have a new recreation center in Central Denver called Carla Madison. It has a 8 lane by 25 yard pool with allot of lap swimming time. It's not far from my office in Downtown Denver, so it's been convenient for me to swim there once or twice a week. Additionally, I will swim there on some Saturday mornings for several reasons, my home pool at University of Denver has frequent swim meets on Saturdays and @ssthomas can't get out of bed at a reasonable time in the morning to swim with her Since I started swimming at Carla Madison, I've run into some like minded swimmers that I did not know before. They have background (college, age group) swim around the same speed, who also show up Saturday morning. So we started to swim together, doing set's etc. Interesting enough we also use the lane more efficiently than the average lap swimmer. We frequently have three or more in the lane as we know how to circle swim where the typical lap swimmer can only manage split the lane with no more than two. We've been using about three lanes. A couple of weeks ago the manager or assistant manager started asking us who are leader was? how were organized? We answer, we have no leader and other than suggesting set's when we show up, we have no organization, there are no emails, texting, facebook pages. Last Saturday, the manager came down and told us we had to rent the lanes. So were actually getting penalized for more efficient use of the pool. I told my swim acquaintances we should just spread out across the pool and go back to splitting the lanes. So much for that freedom of assembly in a public place thing.
@lakespray said:
... Last Saturday, the manager came down and told us we had to rent the lanes. So were actually getting penalized for more efficient use of the pool. I told my swim acquaintances we should just spread out across the pool and go back to splitting the lanes. So much for that freedom of assembly in a public place thing.
How come some people are so skilled at obstruction. That manager is worse than the guy who refuses to get out of the way.
Quite a few years ago I swam my regular workout and noticed another person who swam my pace and showed up regularly at the same time as I. So after a while we started swimming together. Then another person joined us. And another. After a while I was creating the workouts and we had six to eight people regularly showing up and doing workouts together.
The manager of the pool decided to dedicate one or two lanes to us as needed. They got a cone to mark the lanes as "Masters" and to even make it better, they said I didn't have to pay the pool fee. How cool is that! And just to make it right, I donated what would have been my pool fee to the pool because jeez... Now that's the way to run a pool. Create ways to encourage swimming, don't drive people away.
I'll be travelling to Toronto next month and have been checking out places to swim. I noticed that my hotel has a SWEET looking lap appropriate (lanes lines and everything) pool on site. So, I called to see whether it was indoor, outdoor, and all that.
The nice lady said it was both indoor and outdoor.... some sort of partition thing. (Didn't quite understand, but can always check it out when I get there). She then said, "they keep it heated in the winter, of course."
Uh oh.
I asked her what she thought the ballpark temp was......and she replied......
(ya might want to sit down).....
97 degrees...........................and she meant Celcius!
Oy!!!
That's a touch over 197 degrees Fahrenheit....and, soooooooooooooooooooooooooo too warm.
I'd be boiled like a lobster!
On the other hand...I also discovered Toronto's Parks/Rec website. They have TONS of options.... lots of "lane swimming" as it's (apparently) called (different from "leisure swim"). Two sites are within easy distance of my hotel, and for an entrance fee, I can go there.....to a "not boiling hot" pool (hopefully).
Not sure if this is a "peril" due to water temp or a "joy" due to awesome park/rec options.
Pet peeve: When strange men go under water to watch me swim, staring up at me as I go by. Are they trying to figure out how to do a flip turn? Are they fascinated with my early catch? Are they curious about my lack of kicking? Or are they major creepers?
abbygirlroseLos Angeles and Palo Alto, CASenior Member
@ssthomas the same thing happens where I swim, to the point where the lifeguard had to step in at one point because she had noticed it and it made her uncomfortable even though I hadn't noticed being watched.
I vote for major creepers. If you are trying to figure out a swimming thing by watching me swim (um, good luck with that) just say something when I'm at the wall.
Speaking of uncomfortable, the last time I swam there was a couple (mid-20s at least, probably older) in the lane next to me just hanging out. She spent quite a bit of time with her legs wrapped around his waist. I wanted to stop and ask them if they realized that I COULD SEE THEM UNDER WATER. Usually it's the teens with the underwater grabby grabby.
As a member of the male species, I get the idea of women being creeped on in the pool. And yes it does happen. However, I constantly notice people doing the underwater look at me whether it's for stroke or flip turns. In the case of stroke, I've had people comment after they have been observing. Sometimes they are just trying to figure out what the heck an experienced swimmer is doing so they can learn. If they are watching my flip turns may God have mercy on their soul.
Being aware of the effect that men creeping on women can have, I always try to strike up a conversation with a good woman swimmer either before or after I'm observing them. I definitely don't want them to think I'm creeping. I usually give them a compliment or something. I don't ask for their phone number...
I have been helping out a female friend to improve her swimming. I will go along beside her or underwater for different views and I'm sure people who don't know us wonder what the heck is going on. For a long time the life guards thought we might have a little thing going on. One of them broached the subject with me in an awkward way. I told him that I was married, she was married, but not to each other and we intended to keep it that way.
Boy it's tricky when the sport you love is co-ed and generally done in a near naked state...
I finished the last length of my swim this morning. I held the wall with one hand and went to remove my goggles with the other. Pulled the left gasket off my eye and then it slipped and slingshotted back at my eyeball. Now I'm not just the cool damp kid at work this morning, I'm the cool damp kid with a puffy eye!
I can't wait for open water season where I can remove goggles with both hands and avoid such wall-induced madness.
Ouch! I did that once when I was a little kid. After that incident I have never used just one hand to remove goggles. Always two. I will tread water or even just sink and take them off underwater. But never, never, never will I ever use just one hand again. It was an important learning experience.
Of course no one at work will mess with you if you make up a cool story about how you got the shiner...
My favorite lifeguard is graduating college and got a real job. His last day is May 17, and I'm a little bit heartbroken. Glad he's moving on to better things, but he's totally my pal. He shoos people out of my lane and talks trash to me when I skip a day or swim short. Stupid pool, helping me make friends, and then crushing me when they move on! I never have this problem with the fish and ducks at the lake.
I am not making this up. FIVE of the last seven days that I have swam, a kid has pooped in the pool. Last time....yesterday....all up and down the lap lane next to me in the lane where they were doing kids swim lessons. I told the instructor and she did nothing. I had to go inform a lifeguard so they could close the pool and clean it up. The time before that, it was in the kid pool.....which they remedied by moving all the kids to......the lap pool. Time before that....a mom let her small child jump directly onto my back and neck as I was swimming. It seems most of you at least have sane places to swim. My YMCA is seriously a bit out of control.
@MLamby said:
It seems most of you at least have sane places to swim. My YMCA is seriously a bit out of control.
We don't generally get poop (I probably jinxed myself...) but my YMCA pool is also seriously out of control. I try not to bitch about it because it is what it is, but almost every evening I have to dodge the kids trying to make it across my lane before I get there, or they're doing cannonball contests next to me as I swim by, or one of the other nine million annoying behaviors.
I just got home from a nearly two-week trip visiting my husband's family in the UK, and I have some lap swimming stories to share.
Top line observation: Lap swimming in the UK is a somewhat different affair than here in the U.S.
First the good: I managed to make opening day at not just one but two lidos. If you're unfamiliar, lidos are this wonderful tributary of British culture. They're outdoor pools that in some cases stay open year-round. Mostly a relic of a bygone era, many have closed over the past few decades, but some are seeing a resurgence in demand, aided in part by the uptick in open water and wild swimming. They are sheer delight and my new life goal is to swim in every single one of them across the country. It will take a while, but I think it'll be worth it.
We started with the Portishead lido that sits about 30 minutes southwest of Bristol (where my brother-in-law and his family live) right on the edge of the Severn Estuary, essentially the beginning of the Bristol Channel. It's brightly painted and was crystal, sparkling clean (perhaps because it was opening day, but I'll take it!). The pool is 33 meters long and had one lane rope in. And when I say rope, I mean rope. That cordoned off lane was for folks like me who were interested in undertaking "serious training," which for me amounted to roughly 3500 meters of more-or-less strait freestyle. We circle swam clockwise, just like they drive, and I've done that before, so it wasn't totally discombobulating, but my flip turn goes the wrong way and it's always a little weird to break your own circle swimming habits. I had to dodge a few head-up breaststrokers who wandered into the lane, but because the pool was so long, it wasn't an issue and I had a truly delicious swim, despite a water temp north of 84 degrees (the air temp was about 50, so between the two, I was quite comfortable for my 3500 meter session).
My second lido experience transpired in Pontypridd, Wales (about 30 minutes north west of Cardiff where dear friends of ours live) on another sunny, breezy spring day. That pool was a standard 25 meters with similar water temperatures. The lane for "serious" swimmers was even narrower than at Portishead (think roughly 2/3s of a standard lane width in the US), and I had to find a way around a very determined head-up breaststroker every other lap, but we were the only two in the lane, so it was manageable. Lido Ponty had refurbished all the old-time changing cabins that ring the pool, and that was so fun to see and use.
Now onto the less-good: Mark's parents live just outside Hereford, and the Hereford Leisure Pool is about 10 minutes up the road. (Emphasis on the word leisure.) This 25-meter pool is indoors and while the facility itself was very nice, the pool water was cloudy and excessively warm--I'd guess about 86. With air temps probably also in the mid 80s, I was broiling before I even got moving. When I walked out on deck at 7am (the start of "fitness swim" time) the pool was already rammed with a long queue of head-up breaststrokers who obviously are there most mornings and got going a bit earlier than the posted schedule noted there would be lanes available. There were a few lane lines in, so I found a lane with not-so-many people who were swimming freestyle and moving somewhat faster than the breaststrokers and followed suit on their circle swimming. (This facility was set up so that lanes would alternate whether they were following a clockwise or anti-clockwise pattern for circle swimming. Sounds super confusing, but it's actually useful for reducing the number of hand-smacking accidents across lanes somehow. I was glad to have swum with the Masters program in Cardiff a few trips home ago where I first encountered this staggered circle approach so that it wasn't a totally confusing thing to me this time.)
About 30 minutes into my swim, the configuration of the pool changed, as the kids team that was at the far end finished their workout. This meant that the lanes were moved, and suddenly I found myself in a lane that spanned two lanes. Weird, right? So now we're swimming a wider circle across two painted black lines--we were intended to go up one far side and down the other far side, keeping the middle of the double lane clear. It made zero sense to me (though for passing slower folks the wider space in the middle was useful) and resulted in a moderate amount of chaos. I admitted to the very tanned older man in the tiny speedo that I was utterly confused by what I was supposed to do with this new configuration. I eventually got it, but geez, it's weird trying to do a flip turn that takes you across two black lines. (Perhaps I should have adopted the open turn and scooch down the wall technique everyone else was using.)
About 3/4 of the way through that workout (4000 meters), my right eye started feeling funny. I wasn't sure what was up, just figured I must have gotten some water in there, even though I hadn't moved my goggles the whole time. By the time I got out of the pool, I was pretty sure my eye was bleeding, and a glance in the mirror of the changing room area (all sexes shared the same shower area--there were private changing rooms, but everything else was co-ed. That proved useful when I couldn't get my locker key to work and a kindly older man helped me get the locker open) confirmed that my eye was very red and bloody-looking. I couldn't tell if I was actually crying blood because the lighting was weird, so I assumed I'd burst a blood vessel because it was so hot. Upon reaching my in-laws home about 20 minutes later, it became clear, I'd developed a raging case of conjunctivitis. Raging. Now, in fairness, it may have come from hanging out with my nieces in Bristol (ages 5 and 2) or elsewhere along the journey, but the fact that I went into the pool completely fine and came out of it a bloodshot, oozy, cyclopic mess seemed less-than-coincidental to me. Can being over-heated encourage pink eye to bloom so suddenly? Did I pick up the disease agent from the pool water? What the heck just happened, and how am I going to drive on the wrong side of the road like this?
The pink eye cleared up in a few days time, and I'm back to normal (and home) now, wishing that we had a lido here.
All in all, I was glad I got to swim while we were abroad. The leisure pool experience though reconfirmed what I'd already suspected---that for folks who are trapped indoors to train, my hat is off to you for becoming marathon swimmers in spite of a system that just looks like complete anarchy to me.
Bottom line observation: Lap swimming is always an adventure!
A couple of weeks ago, I was wrapping up my last few laps of my morning swim. As I approached the wall, I realized that the lane was getting thinner and thinner. The water aerobics class in the lane next to me was about to start, and they decided that it was time for me to go--so they staked out my lane, moved the lane line over, and by the time I was at the flags, I was out of lane!
Apparently the water aerobics instructor had tried to get my attention, by standing at the end of the lane and sending me strong vibes that she would like me to move over, please. Of course, this never manifested in sticking a kick board, lifeguard tube, or hand into the water.
My favorite lifeguard is sassy. On Thursday night, I informed him the pool was even hotter than it was on Tuesday, like he can do anything about it. He replied right back, "It's exactly the same as it was on Tuesday. Do you think you just like to complain?"
Oh, Snap, Daniel. :-)
(PS both comments were all in good fun and we were laughing at each other)
@ssthomas said:
My favorite lifeguard is sassy. On Thursday night, I informed him the pool was even hotter than it was on Tuesday, like he can do anything about it. He replied right back, "It's exactly the same as it was on Tuesday. Do you think you just like to complain?"
Oh, Snap, Daniel. :-)
(PS both comments were all in good fun and we were laughing at each other)
Our "instructional pool" is the one that's available for the morning swimmers. Little kids swim lesson sessions started a few weeks ago. UP went the temp! Just a degree or two makes all the difference.
If I ever win the lottery I'm building a year round outdoor lap pool in my city. I don't care if I'm the only one who ever swims there (although I'm pretty sure @emkhowley would make the drive...) but I am so sick of swimming in a basement.
@MoCo said:
If I ever win the lottery I'm building a year round outdoor lap pool in my city. I don't care if I'm the only one who ever swims there (although I'm pretty sure @emkhowley would make the drive...) but I am so sick of swimming in a basement.
You know it! I'd gladly make the trek in any kind of weather!
I had a short vacation at a resort type area and discovered a few new perils of swimming. There was a pool with a scheduled morning lap swim that I went to and found it was relatively unpopulated. So that part was nice. However one day I went and had a few things go wrong.
I had arrived with my sister and we were chatting at the check in line. A guy we had walked in with had sort of joined in our conversation. He was a pretty decent sort and we all were enjoying the early morning pre-swim banter. As we were prepping to get in our lane, he offered us some anti-fog for our goggles. It was sort of like the situation where you're chatting and someone offers you a stick of gum. I don't even chew gum, but I accept the gesture and chomp away until I spit it out discreetly. Well, both my sister and I accepted the offer and he dabbed this gel into our goggles and told us to rinse it out and it would be awesome. (Here, I should point out that I don't have goggle fogging problems and I subscribe to the spit and rinse technique that I have used for so many years.)
I rinsed and put the goggles on and started swimming. After 200 yards my eyes were burning. I stopped and my sister stopped after me. I told her my eyes were burning and she said hers were a little too. I rinsed and spit and rinsed and spit and rinsed and then put the goggles on again. I did my workout and it didn't seem too bad. When I finished my workout and took my goggles off, my eyes were kind of swollen and vision was blurred. Her's fortunately weren't so bad. Maybe she rinsed better than I did. So basically I had accepted an offer to solve a problem I didn't have, and then my eyes were cooked as a result. DON'T CHANGE YOUR SWIM ROUTINE IF IT WORKS. dumb dumb dumb...
During the rest of the day my eyes felt bad and the whites were red. Not just bloodshot veins, the entire whites were red. So I freaked out and read google. Turns out that the anti fog was mentioned in numerous cases of eye damage. Pictures of a guy with bandages over his eyes. Ophthalmology articles with scary words that I didn't understand other than "blindness" and "permanent damage". So I called an ophthalmologist the next day and got an appointment to be checked out. They read up on the anti-fog and found that it specifically stated the gel is not to be used on small goggles like swim goggles. Product is Jaws SPIT, for those of you interested. (I prefer curly SPIT much better...) They gave me some sort of med and told me I'd be OK. A week later, my eyes appear to be fine, so that's enough about that peril.
The other peril that day happened in the shower. First of all, this is a family friendly resort area, so the pool is open to all ages and so forth. The lap swim tends to be all adults because kids are too smart to waste their morning swimming laps. So I walk into the shower after my swim with my half blinded eyes and there is one guy in there showering. And also apparently being, how should I say, intimate with himself. He was being "discreet", but I'm afraid I've been around long enough to know what was going on there. I mean, it doesn't take that long for a quick clean up in that area if you know what I'm saying. I wasn't quite sure what to do and my presence really didn't seem to phase him, so I had a quick shower and moved on. Got to say, that's the first time I've ever experienced anything like that. And hopefully the last.
Boy oh boy it was nice to get back home to my lake where it's safe and sound. Well I guess there was that time that Ted Bundy abducted a couple girls from our park, but overall it's a pretty nice place to swim.
During the rest of the day my eyes felt bad and the whites were red. Not just bloodshot veins, the entire whites were red. So I freaked out and read google. Turns out that the anti fog was mentioned in numerous cases of eye damage. Pictures of a guy with bandages over his eyes. Ophthalmology articles with scary words that I didn't understand other than "blindness" and "permanent damage". So I called an ophthalmologist the next day and got an appointment to be checked out. They read up on the anti-fog and found that it specifically stated the gel is not to be used on small goggles like swim goggles. Product is Jaws SPIT, for those of you interested. (I prefer curly SPIT much better...) They gave me some sort of med and told me I'd be OK. A week later, my eyes appear to be fine, so that's enough about that peril.
I use that anti-fogger all time! I've never had trouble - maybe I rinse them out really well?? That's incredible.
In the showers today there was a fellow a minute or so behind me and as I'm getting dressed he comes out, towels off, then pulls a bottle of olive oil, a legit bottle you can buy in a store, and then rubs it all over his body.
I left before he pulled out the vinegar...
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I think we need a thread called "Locker Room Perils". Cuz I have some stories there, though NOTHING compared to @curly's story from above. Holy Moly that's insanity. I'll never be annoyed with people randomly talking to themselves or singing hymns at the top of their lungs or the dirty, DIRTY things that teenage girls talk about...
During the rest of the day my eyes felt bad and the whites were red. Not just bloodshot veins, the entire whites were red. So I freaked out and read google. Turns out that the anti fog was mentioned in numerous cases of eye damage. Pictures of a guy with bandages over his eyes. Ophthalmology articles with scary words that I didn't understand other than "blindness" and "permanent damage". So I called an ophthalmologist the next day and got an appointment to be checked out. They read up on the anti-fog and found that it specifically stated the gel is not to be used on small goggles like swim goggles. Product is Jaws SPIT, for those of you interested. (I prefer curly SPIT much better...) They gave me some sort of med and told me I'd be OK. A week later, my eyes appear to be fine, so that's enough about that peril.
I use that anti-fogger all time! I've never had trouble - maybe I rinse them out really well?? That's incredible.
So a slight addendum to the story. A day later I ran into the guy who shared the anti fog with me. I told him my tale of woe and told him about the ophthalmologist saying that you weren't supposed to use the gel on small goggles like swim goggles. He was obviously shocked and said that he had used this for years with no problem.
I just wanted him to know that he should be careful in sharing. No hard feelings or anything because I know it was just a generous gesture. I'm pretty sure that it must have something to do with how well you rinse it off. He had gobbed it on my goggles and I know I did a quick rub and rinse, so that surely didn't help. I also think some people might be more sensitive to stuff like this and I'm probably one of them.
At any rate, I think the important lessons are; 1) Don't change up your swim routine for no apparent reason. 2) Use all products as directed.
@ssthomas said:
I think we need a thread called "Locker Room Perils". Cuz I have some stories there, though NOTHING compared to @curly's story from above. Holy Moly that's insanity. I'll never be annoyed with people randomly talking to themselves or singing hymns at the top of their lungs or the dirty, DIRTY things that teenage girls talk about...
I've always heard rumors that the girls locker room is far more perilous than the guys... scared to know what goes on in there...
@ssthomas said:
Pet peeve: When strange men go under water to watch me swim, staring up at me as I go by. Are they trying to figure out how to do a flip turn? Are they fascinated with my early catch? Are they curious about my lack of kicking? Or are they major creepers?
I once noticed a guy in an adjoining lane not only doing the underwater stare but also....well, let's just say a certain area of his suit increased in bulk. I would have moved to another lane, but to my relief, he got out.
I discovered a new peril of lap swimming today. I've been swimming open water all summer. Sometimes with my kayaker, sometimes with a friend. With my kayaker we can cover some territory. With my friend, we stay in the swim area and I coach her as she is learning how to swim in a lake for the first time. She's actually shown some great improvement BTW. But that's not the point of the story.
When my swim partners don't want to go, I just freelance on my own. I have a route that crosses a couple small bays and it's usually pretty boat free. There is one ski boat that pulls a couple of fantastic water skiers. I love to watch them as they slice up the water. Early in the summer I spoke with them when they were stopped and changing skiers. I asked if I was visible to them and they said yes, and they really liked my bright yellow cap and swim buoy. I told them I wasn't sure if they could see me and it was pretty intimidating when the boat is coming at you.
Since then, they have been really good about acknowledging me when we first encounter each other. Then I know I can swim safely because they kind of know the route I'm taking. So we've built up a good degree of trust in each other to not surprise ourselves.
Today I was out for a freelance swim and the skiers were out doing their thing. It seemed like they were going by on each pass a little sooner than I expected to see them. But I figured that maybe they were doing short runs for whatever reason. I had gotten to my turnaround point and they were stopped. So I swam over sort of near them and we said hi and so forth. Then all of a sudden another boat came tearing down the same run, kind of headed at me. They veered off at the end, so I guess they didn't want to hit the other boat, or maybe me if they even saw me. I said to the first boat that I didn't realize there were two boats out. I think at one point, the new boat passed between the shore and me. I asked the first boat if they thought the second boat even saw me. They said maybe, but they weren't sure. I tried to give them a wave and an acknowledgement, but they seemed to ignore me. Weird.
So I set a pretty solid pace on my way back. I also stayed a little closer to shore to encourage the boat to pass a little further away from me. It all worked out pretty well and it was fun doing a quicker pace on the way back. But I sure did more sighting than I usually would do. I really like the first boat because they seem really conscious of what they are doing. Second boat gave me the willies. And they weren't even that good at water skiing.
Yes, this belongs in perils of lap swimming because I did one lap.
@curly
I too, have a "route" (set of routes, actually) that my kayaker and I tend to take when I go to the lake. I won't swim there w/out an escort though, because it's too heavily travelled.
My lake "peril" is fishermen........ when we start super early, they're out there to get the morning fish, and I always wave/speak to be sure they know I'm in the water and don't cast a line over-top of me. We were passing behind this one island the other week, and couldn't tell where their lines were (mom and pop set of fisherfolk)..... my kayaker did a great job of working out with them where we were, where their hooks were, and all that..... As I was finishing my feed, I mentioned to them that, "I don't want to be mistaken for a fish!" The husband grumbled back good naturedly, "It'd be the first thing we caught all day!"
Now that the Labor Day holiday is past, the traffic will die down, especially the zipping too fast ski-dos and jet skis. So, no more fun wakes to play with. But, much safer!
Yes, we have fisherfolk as well. Usually they aren't in areas that I am. But I steer really clear of them because I cringe whenever I think of getting hooked.
One other aspect of my swim yesterday that caught me a little by surprise. Apparently I had told my kayaker that I would be home by around 10:00. I got to my car around 10:30 and found my phone had a couple missed calls and texts from the kayaker. Just as I started reading the first text the phone rang. "Where are you?!?" I said I just got to the car. She was furious. She actually was headed toward the lake because she was so concerned that she hadn't heard from me yet. So now I'm in trouble because I'm alive.
This is another peril that I hadn't even considered.
Curly
I do it!
Im extremly happy.that not give up befor 40 days! All was risk and adventure.but today swim one of the best ow swim in the world! My opinipn. I swim and lost time to watching so beautiful things ( first nature and villages!
Perfect was all ( sunny.ocean.on final 3k great waves))
Ok stop and go for beers!
30k- 8h.18min!( after so many months party)
I had 5 hr swim in the lake on my schedule today. All of my paddlers were unavailable, though. So, since it’s the last big swim before an event, I figured I’d buckle down and do it in the pool. There’s one pool in the area that’s open for 5 hrs on a weekend day, so off I went.
Entry fee is $4, so it was a very cost effective swim.
I let the teen lifeguards know what I was doing so that they wouldn’t worry too much, and to let them know I might need a tap on the head when the pool closed.
Felt great for the first three hours, felt ok for the fourth hour, and hung on for the last hour.
My peril? That would be the chaffing that I got on the top of my thighs from my legs rubbing against my suit on every flip turn. Not something I’ve experienced in the water before. So, now I know to pre-protect that area on future long swims. And, get a slicker fabric for my looong swims. “Endurance” fabric is a bit like sandpaper over time, it appears.
My peril? That would be the chaffing that I got on the top of my thighs from my legs rubbing against my suit on every flip turn. Not something I’ve experienced in the water before. So, now I know to pre-protect that area on future long swims. And, get a slicker fabric for my looong swims. “Endurance” fabric is a bit like sandpaper over time, it appears.
You see I avoid this problem by never doing flip turns... The fact that I can't do flip turns has nothing to do with it....
I just started getting back into it at the local Y pool this week, and low and behold, my 2 biggest pet peeves still exist. #1=People who do the full lane takeover/starfish swim stroke at about 0.00001 miles per hour who will actually ask you NOT to share the lane with them, and #2= People who insist on physically making you stop your workout so they can TELL you they are going to share your lane. I can SEE you and I have clearly moved all the way over to the lane rope for you! Just get in! LOL. At least I'm back at it.
Discovered a new peril today. I was swimming solo in a lane when all of a sudden a young lady and I nearly collided. Came out of nowhere. So we both stopped and I said, OK we'll split the lane, you take that side and I'll take this. She said fine and off we went. Which is when I nearly crashed into her friend who had also jumped into the lane, unannounced. Marvelous. So I stopped again and said that I didn't know there were three of us, so we will swim circles.
They agreed and I swam down to the end. Then I stopped to see what was going to happen next. Glad I did, because the first girl started swimming on my side of the lane coming at me. She flipped and headed down on the other side, so she was doing circles clockwise. Her friend was waiting down at the other end and we both hand signaled and let each other know that we would need to resolve this. That's when the pool manager stepped in to explain the situation to the two of them.
At a later point, the lane next to me opened up and they hopped over there. When we both were stopped at the same end of the lane I heard them talking and didn't totally recognize the accent. Turns out they were from Scotland. I asked if they swam clockwise there and they said that they usually did. They were apologetic for the misunderstanding earlier and I told them it was no big deal because nobody got hurt.
So I guess the rule is make sure you know which side of the road you're supposed to be driving on.
Comments
So sympathizee, Sam! I had something similar happen. All set for a long swim, and only about 600 yds in, they closed an INDOOR pool b/c the lifeguards heard thunder. If they didn't hear any in the half hour following, they would reopen. Of course, when the time was almost up, they heard more. I saw where things were headed, and I'm already not fast, so that swim didn't happen. Another time my swim was interrupted due to a kid puking. But that was going to be a short swim anyway, and I was almost done.
OK, I can't resist reviving this thread. Here is a real peril of lap swimming...
THE STUPID POOL IS CLOSED TODAY AND SO I CAN'T SWIM!
If I was a real marathon swimmer, I'd be out in a lake that can never close down. Well, except for ice or forest fires. But really, I'm just going crazy because I have all this energy that I can't burn off and so all I can do is post on this forum.
Now I'm going to go shovel snow.
This isn't lap swimming, but pool swimming... but, I've been in the chlorine box so much lately my newly re-grown, still sensitive eyebrows are getting fried right off. Haha 🤣
I would like to time myself for 1500 m today, but a f**king thunderstorm came just before I started the time trial so everyone had to get out, and I couldn't swim!
A thunderstorm makes no difference whether you swim in a pool or open water, so it can also destroy a swim in the ocean as well. Whenever there is a thunderstorm, no-one can swim.
I was swimming at the local gym pool (known for .... questionable..... water quality at times), and didn't realize how bad it had gotten. My hair dresser scolded me..... "you have chemical burns!!!!" I thought that what I was feeling in the hair at the bottom of my head/top of my neck was the typical "straw" that happens because the cap doesn't fit all the way down. Nope. I had holes.
They finally sent the water at that pool out for testing and it came back with Chlorine levels 10x higher than the highest level of recommendations. No wonder I had stopped needing to shave my legs!
Lap swimming where I live is hard. Our YMCA only has four lanes and has NO etiquette guidelines posted or enforced at all. Normally, the only way to get a good, long, uninterrupted set in is.....well, it's nearly impossible. It is a total crap shoot. The majority of people have some common sense, but way too many people are either rude, or clueless, or selfish when it comes to lane sharing. or even keeping their arms and legs in their OWN lane when swimming. I find that you just have to stay positive and do what you can do at any given time. It does hurt consistency of training however. I almost always feel like I'm irritating SOMEBODY when I train.
Wow, I see many people have to many issue, I live in Belgium, when I enter in the pool, there is usually 1 fast lane, 3 slow/normal and one double for recreational bathing. If I have someone slower in front I overtake him/her.. here is understood that you can overtake.. sometimes, near the wall with a fast flip turn. I usually manage to avoid the contact but if it happens I rise my hand to say sorry and keep going... Usually, after few laps and flips slow swimmer change lane (there is a board saying this is a fast lane) and I am the only one
. But when other fast swimmers are there we share very nice and if I feel someone faster then me is approaching ,I make myself close to the side to give him/her way...
"Lap swimming where I live is hard. Our YMCA only has four lanes and has NO etiquette guidelines posted or enforced at all."
Yeah, my Y can be treacherous on occasion. When I'm ramping up training where I need a lane for a few hours, I'll bring the lifeguards bagels or cookies on a regular basis and they help to keep the noodlers and riff raff out of the lane. I don't mind splitting a lane with people who know what they're doing, though. I'll also enlist some of the folks on my team to come swim with me for a bit which helps control who is there with me as well.
We have a new recreation center in Central Denver called Carla Madison. It has a 8 lane by 25 yard pool with allot of lap swimming time. It's not far from my office in Downtown Denver, so it's been convenient for me to swim there once or twice a week. Additionally, I will swim there on some Saturday mornings for several reasons, my home pool at University of Denver has frequent swim meets on Saturdays and @ssthomas can't get out of bed at a reasonable time in the morning to swim with her
Since I started swimming at Carla Madison, I've run into some like minded swimmers that I did not know before. They have background (college, age group) swim around the same speed, who also show up Saturday morning. So we started to swim together, doing set's etc. Interesting enough we also use the lane more efficiently than the average lap swimmer. We frequently have three or more in the lane as we know how to circle swim where the typical lap swimmer can only manage split the lane with no more than two. We've been using about three lanes. A couple of weeks ago the manager or assistant manager started asking us who are leader was? how were organized? We answer, we have no leader and other than suggesting set's when we show up, we have no organization, there are no emails, texting, facebook pages. Last Saturday, the manager came down and told us we had to rent the lanes. So were actually getting penalized for more efficient use of the pool. I told my swim acquaintances we should just spread out across the pool and go back to splitting the lanes. So much for that freedom of assembly in a public place thing.
How come some people are so skilled at obstruction. That manager is worse than the guy who refuses to get out of the way.
Quite a few years ago I swam my regular workout and noticed another person who swam my pace and showed up regularly at the same time as I. So after a while we started swimming together. Then another person joined us. And another. After a while I was creating the workouts and we had six to eight people regularly showing up and doing workouts together.
The manager of the pool decided to dedicate one or two lanes to us as needed. They got a cone to mark the lanes as "Masters" and to even make it better, they said I didn't have to pay the pool fee. How cool is that! And just to make it right, I donated what would have been my pool fee to the pool because jeez... Now that's the way to run a pool. Create ways to encourage swimming, don't drive people away.
I'll be travelling to Toronto next month and have been checking out places to swim. I noticed that my hotel has a SWEET looking lap appropriate (lanes lines and everything) pool on site. So, I called to see whether it was indoor, outdoor, and all that.
The nice lady said it was both indoor and outdoor.... some sort of partition thing. (Didn't quite understand, but can always check it out when I get there). She then said, "they keep it heated in the winter, of course."
Uh oh.
I asked her what she thought the ballpark temp was......and she replied......
(ya might want to sit down).....
97 degrees...........................and she meant Celcius!
Oy!!!
That's a touch over 197 degrees Fahrenheit....and, soooooooooooooooooooooooooo too warm.
I'd be boiled like a lobster!
On the other hand...I also discovered Toronto's Parks/Rec website. They have TONS of options.... lots of "lane swimming" as it's (apparently) called (different from "leisure swim"). Two sites are within easy distance of my hotel, and for an entrance fee, I can go there.....to a "not boiling hot" pool (hopefully).
Not sure if this is a "peril" due to water temp or a "joy" due to awesome park/rec options.
Pet peeve: When strange men go under water to watch me swim, staring up at me as I go by. Are they trying to figure out how to do a flip turn? Are they fascinated with my early catch? Are they curious about my lack of kicking? Or are they major creepers?
@ssthomas the same thing happens where I swim, to the point where the lifeguard had to step in at one point because she had noticed it and it made her uncomfortable even though I hadn't noticed being watched.
Okay, so that is way creepy and way trumps any issues I have. I'll stop complaining.
I vote for major creepers. If you are trying to figure out a swimming thing by watching me swim (um, good luck with that) just say something when I'm at the wall.
Speaking of uncomfortable, the last time I swam there was a couple (mid-20s at least, probably older) in the lane next to me just hanging out. She spent quite a bit of time with her legs wrapped around his waist. I wanted to stop and ask them if they realized that I COULD SEE THEM UNDER WATER. Usually it's the teens with the underwater grabby grabby.
As a member of the male species, I get the idea of women being creeped on in the pool. And yes it does happen. However, I constantly notice people doing the underwater look at me whether it's for stroke or flip turns. In the case of stroke, I've had people comment after they have been observing. Sometimes they are just trying to figure out what the heck an experienced swimmer is doing so they can learn. If they are watching my flip turns may God have mercy on their soul.
Being aware of the effect that men creeping on women can have, I always try to strike up a conversation with a good woman swimmer either before or after I'm observing them. I definitely don't want them to think I'm creeping. I usually give them a compliment or something. I don't ask for their phone number...
I have been helping out a female friend to improve her swimming. I will go along beside her or underwater for different views and I'm sure people who don't know us wonder what the heck is going on. For a long time the life guards thought we might have a little thing going on. One of them broached the subject with me in an awkward way. I told him that I was married, she was married, but not to each other and we intended to keep it that way.
Boy it's tricky when the sport you love is co-ed and generally done in a near naked state...
I finished the last length of my swim this morning. I held the wall with one hand and went to remove my goggles with the other. Pulled the left gasket off my eye and then it slipped and slingshotted back at my eyeball. Now I'm not just the cool damp kid at work this morning, I'm the cool damp kid with a puffy eye!
I can't wait for open water season where I can remove goggles with both hands and avoid such wall-induced madness.
Ouch! I did that once when I was a little kid. After that incident I have never used just one hand to remove goggles. Always two. I will tread water or even just sink and take them off underwater. But never, never, never will I ever use just one hand again. It was an important learning experience.
Of course no one at work will mess with you if you make up a cool story about how you got the shiner...
My favorite lifeguard is graduating college and got a real job. His last day is May 17, and I'm a little bit heartbroken. Glad he's moving on to better things, but he's totally my pal. He shoos people out of my lane and talks trash to me when I skip a day or swim short. Stupid pool, helping me make friends, and then crushing me when they move on! I never have this problem with the fish and ducks at the lake.
I am not making this up. FIVE of the last seven days that I have swam, a kid has pooped in the pool. Last time....yesterday....all up and down the lap lane next to me in the lane where they were doing kids swim lessons. I told the instructor and she did nothing. I had to go inform a lifeguard so they could close the pool and clean it up. The time before that, it was in the kid pool.....which they remedied by moving all the kids to......the lap pool. Time before that....a mom let her small child jump directly onto my back and neck as I was swimming. It seems most of you at least have sane places to swim. My YMCA is seriously a bit out of control.
We don't generally get poop (I probably jinxed myself...) but my YMCA pool is also seriously out of control. I try not to bitch about it because it is what it is, but almost every evening I have to dodge the kids trying to make it across my lane before I get there, or they're doing cannonball contests next to me as I swim by, or one of the other nine million annoying behaviors.
I just got home from a nearly two-week trip visiting my husband's family in the UK, and I have some lap swimming stories to share.
Top line observation: Lap swimming in the UK is a somewhat different affair than here in the U.S.
First the good: I managed to make opening day at not just one but two lidos. If you're unfamiliar, lidos are this wonderful tributary of British culture. They're outdoor pools that in some cases stay open year-round. Mostly a relic of a bygone era, many have closed over the past few decades, but some are seeing a resurgence in demand, aided in part by the uptick in open water and wild swimming. They are sheer delight and my new life goal is to swim in every single one of them across the country. It will take a while, but I think it'll be worth it.
We started with the Portishead lido that sits about 30 minutes southwest of Bristol (where my brother-in-law and his family live) right on the edge of the Severn Estuary, essentially the beginning of the Bristol Channel. It's brightly painted and was crystal, sparkling clean (perhaps because it was opening day, but I'll take it!). The pool is 33 meters long and had one lane rope in. And when I say rope, I mean rope. That cordoned off lane was for folks like me who were interested in undertaking "serious training," which for me amounted to roughly 3500 meters of more-or-less strait freestyle. We circle swam clockwise, just like they drive, and I've done that before, so it wasn't totally discombobulating, but my flip turn goes the wrong way and it's always a little weird to break your own circle swimming habits. I had to dodge a few head-up breaststrokers who wandered into the lane, but because the pool was so long, it wasn't an issue and I had a truly delicious swim, despite a water temp north of 84 degrees (the air temp was about 50, so between the two, I was quite comfortable for my 3500 meter session).
My second lido experience transpired in Pontypridd, Wales (about 30 minutes north west of Cardiff where dear friends of ours live) on another sunny, breezy spring day. That pool was a standard 25 meters with similar water temperatures. The lane for "serious" swimmers was even narrower than at Portishead (think roughly 2/3s of a standard lane width in the US), and I had to find a way around a very determined head-up breaststroker every other lap, but we were the only two in the lane, so it was manageable. Lido Ponty had refurbished all the old-time changing cabins that ring the pool, and that was so fun to see and use.
Now onto the less-good: Mark's parents live just outside Hereford, and the Hereford Leisure Pool is about 10 minutes up the road. (Emphasis on the word leisure.) This 25-meter pool is indoors and while the facility itself was very nice, the pool water was cloudy and excessively warm--I'd guess about 86. With air temps probably also in the mid 80s, I was broiling before I even got moving. When I walked out on deck at 7am (the start of "fitness swim" time) the pool was already rammed with a long queue of head-up breaststrokers who obviously are there most mornings and got going a bit earlier than the posted schedule noted there would be lanes available. There were a few lane lines in, so I found a lane with not-so-many people who were swimming freestyle and moving somewhat faster than the breaststrokers and followed suit on their circle swimming. (This facility was set up so that lanes would alternate whether they were following a clockwise or anti-clockwise pattern for circle swimming. Sounds super confusing, but it's actually useful for reducing the number of hand-smacking accidents across lanes somehow. I was glad to have swum with the Masters program in Cardiff a few trips home ago where I first encountered this staggered circle approach so that it wasn't a totally confusing thing to me this time.)
About 30 minutes into my swim, the configuration of the pool changed, as the kids team that was at the far end finished their workout. This meant that the lanes were moved, and suddenly I found myself in a lane that spanned two lanes. Weird, right? So now we're swimming a wider circle across two painted black lines--we were intended to go up one far side and down the other far side, keeping the middle of the double lane clear. It made zero sense to me (though for passing slower folks the wider space in the middle was useful) and resulted in a moderate amount of chaos. I admitted to the very tanned older man in the tiny speedo that I was utterly confused by what I was supposed to do with this new configuration. I eventually got it, but geez, it's weird trying to do a flip turn that takes you across two black lines. (Perhaps I should have adopted the open turn and scooch down the wall technique everyone else was using.)
About 3/4 of the way through that workout (4000 meters), my right eye started feeling funny. I wasn't sure what was up, just figured I must have gotten some water in there, even though I hadn't moved my goggles the whole time. By the time I got out of the pool, I was pretty sure my eye was bleeding, and a glance in the mirror of the changing room area (all sexes shared the same shower area--there were private changing rooms, but everything else was co-ed. That proved useful when I couldn't get my locker key to work and a kindly older man helped me get the locker open) confirmed that my eye was very red and bloody-looking. I couldn't tell if I was actually crying blood because the lighting was weird, so I assumed I'd burst a blood vessel because it was so hot. Upon reaching my in-laws home about 20 minutes later, it became clear, I'd developed a raging case of conjunctivitis. Raging. Now, in fairness, it may have come from hanging out with my nieces in Bristol (ages 5 and 2) or elsewhere along the journey, but the fact that I went into the pool completely fine and came out of it a bloodshot, oozy, cyclopic mess seemed less-than-coincidental to me. Can being over-heated encourage pink eye to bloom so suddenly? Did I pick up the disease agent from the pool water? What the heck just happened, and how am I going to drive on the wrong side of the road like this?
The pink eye cleared up in a few days time, and I'm back to normal (and home) now, wishing that we had a lido here.
All in all, I was glad I got to swim while we were abroad. The leisure pool experience though reconfirmed what I'd already suspected---that for folks who are trapped indoors to train, my hat is off to you for becoming marathon swimmers in spite of a system that just looks like complete anarchy to me.
Bottom line observation: Lap swimming is always an adventure!
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A grasshopper walks into a bar...
https://elainekhowley.com/
A couple of weeks ago, I was wrapping up my last few laps of my morning swim. As I approached the wall, I realized that the lane was getting thinner and thinner. The water aerobics class in the lane next to me was about to start, and they decided that it was time for me to go--so they staked out my lane, moved the lane line over, and by the time I was at the flags, I was out of lane!
Apparently the water aerobics instructor had tried to get my attention, by standing at the end of the lane and sending me strong vibes that she would like me to move over, please. Of course, this never manifested in sticking a kick board, lifeguard tube, or hand into the water.
My favorite lifeguard is sassy. On Thursday night, I informed him the pool was even hotter than it was on Tuesday, like he can do anything about it. He replied right back, "It's exactly the same as it was on Tuesday. Do you think you just like to complain?"
Oh, Snap, Daniel. :-)
(PS both comments were all in good fun and we were laughing at each other)
Our "instructional pool" is the one that's available for the morning swimmers. Little kids swim lesson sessions started a few weeks ago. UP went the temp! Just a degree or two makes all the difference.
If I ever win the lottery I'm building a year round outdoor lap pool in my city. I don't care if I'm the only one who ever swims there (although I'm pretty sure @emkhowley would make the drive...) but I am so sick of swimming in a basement.
You know it! I'd gladly make the trek in any kind of weather!
Stop me if you've heard this one...
A grasshopper walks into a bar...
https://elainekhowley.com/
I had a short vacation at a resort type area and discovered a few new perils of swimming. There was a pool with a scheduled morning lap swim that I went to and found it was relatively unpopulated. So that part was nice. However one day I went and had a few things go wrong.
I had arrived with my sister and we were chatting at the check in line. A guy we had walked in with had sort of joined in our conversation. He was a pretty decent sort and we all were enjoying the early morning pre-swim banter. As we were prepping to get in our lane, he offered us some anti-fog for our goggles. It was sort of like the situation where you're chatting and someone offers you a stick of gum. I don't even chew gum, but I accept the gesture and chomp away until I spit it out discreetly. Well, both my sister and I accepted the offer and he dabbed this gel into our goggles and told us to rinse it out and it would be awesome. (Here, I should point out that I don't have goggle fogging problems and I subscribe to the spit and rinse technique that I have used for so many years.)
I rinsed and put the goggles on and started swimming. After 200 yards my eyes were burning. I stopped and my sister stopped after me. I told her my eyes were burning and she said hers were a little too. I rinsed and spit and rinsed and spit and rinsed and then put the goggles on again. I did my workout and it didn't seem too bad. When I finished my workout and took my goggles off, my eyes were kind of swollen and vision was blurred. Her's fortunately weren't so bad. Maybe she rinsed better than I did. So basically I had accepted an offer to solve a problem I didn't have, and then my eyes were cooked as a result. DON'T CHANGE YOUR SWIM ROUTINE IF IT WORKS. dumb dumb dumb...
During the rest of the day my eyes felt bad and the whites were red. Not just bloodshot veins, the entire whites were red. So I freaked out and read google. Turns out that the anti fog was mentioned in numerous cases of eye damage. Pictures of a guy with bandages over his eyes. Ophthalmology articles with scary words that I didn't understand other than "blindness" and "permanent damage". So I called an ophthalmologist the next day and got an appointment to be checked out. They read up on the anti-fog and found that it specifically stated the gel is not to be used on small goggles like swim goggles. Product is Jaws SPIT, for those of you interested. (I prefer curly SPIT much better...) They gave me some sort of med and told me I'd be OK. A week later, my eyes appear to be fine, so that's enough about that peril.
The other peril that day happened in the shower. First of all, this is a family friendly resort area, so the pool is open to all ages and so forth. The lap swim tends to be all adults because kids are too smart to waste their morning swimming laps. So I walk into the shower after my swim with my half blinded eyes and there is one guy in there showering. And also apparently being, how should I say, intimate with himself. He was being "discreet", but I'm afraid I've been around long enough to know what was going on there. I mean, it doesn't take that long for a quick clean up in that area if you know what I'm saying. I wasn't quite sure what to do and my presence really didn't seem to phase him, so I had a quick shower and moved on. Got to say, that's the first time I've ever experienced anything like that. And hopefully the last.
Boy oh boy it was nice to get back home to my lake where it's safe and sound. Well I guess there was that time that Ted Bundy abducted a couple girls from our park, but overall it's a pretty nice place to swim.
I use that anti-fogger all time! I've never had trouble - maybe I rinse them out really well?? That's incredible.
This isn't a peril for me, but was weird...
In the showers today there was a fellow a minute or so behind me and as I'm getting dressed he comes out, towels off, then pulls a bottle of olive oil, a legit bottle you can buy in a store, and then rubs it all over his body.
I left before he pulled out the vinegar...
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I think we need a thread called "Locker Room Perils". Cuz I have some stories there, though NOTHING compared to @curly's story from above. Holy Moly that's insanity. I'll never be annoyed with people randomly talking to themselves or singing hymns at the top of their lungs or the dirty, DIRTY things that teenage girls talk about...
As the father of a 16-year old teenage girl (swimmer!) I choose to remain blissfully ignorant.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
@IronMike That's a wise decision. Ignorance is bliss.
So a slight addendum to the story. A day later I ran into the guy who shared the anti fog with me. I told him my tale of woe and told him about the ophthalmologist saying that you weren't supposed to use the gel on small goggles like swim goggles. He was obviously shocked and said that he had used this for years with no problem.
I just wanted him to know that he should be careful in sharing. No hard feelings or anything because I know it was just a generous gesture. I'm pretty sure that it must have something to do with how well you rinse it off. He had gobbed it on my goggles and I know I did a quick rub and rinse, so that surely didn't help. I also think some people might be more sensitive to stuff like this and I'm probably one of them.
At any rate, I think the important lessons are; 1) Don't change up your swim routine for no apparent reason. 2) Use all products as directed.
I've always heard rumors that the girls locker room is far more perilous than the guys... scared to know what goes on in there...
I once noticed a guy in an adjoining lane not only doing the underwater stare but also....well, let's just say a certain area of his suit increased in bulk. I would have moved to another lane, but to my relief, he got out.
I swam with a friend at MIT last Sunday. Apparently my mostly-peach grab bag suit, slightly faded, looks alarmingly like I'm naked underwater.
Whoops.
Then there are the suits that look great in the catalog, look great when you try them on, but become transparent when they get wet.
I discovered a new peril of lap swimming today. I've been swimming open water all summer. Sometimes with my kayaker, sometimes with a friend. With my kayaker we can cover some territory. With my friend, we stay in the swim area and I coach her as she is learning how to swim in a lake for the first time. She's actually shown some great improvement BTW. But that's not the point of the story.
When my swim partners don't want to go, I just freelance on my own. I have a route that crosses a couple small bays and it's usually pretty boat free. There is one ski boat that pulls a couple of fantastic water skiers. I love to watch them as they slice up the water. Early in the summer I spoke with them when they were stopped and changing skiers. I asked if I was visible to them and they said yes, and they really liked my bright yellow cap and swim buoy. I told them I wasn't sure if they could see me and it was pretty intimidating when the boat is coming at you.
Since then, they have been really good about acknowledging me when we first encounter each other. Then I know I can swim safely because they kind of know the route I'm taking. So we've built up a good degree of trust in each other to not surprise ourselves.
Today I was out for a freelance swim and the skiers were out doing their thing. It seemed like they were going by on each pass a little sooner than I expected to see them. But I figured that maybe they were doing short runs for whatever reason. I had gotten to my turnaround point and they were stopped. So I swam over sort of near them and we said hi and so forth. Then all of a sudden another boat came tearing down the same run, kind of headed at me. They veered off at the end, so I guess they didn't want to hit the other boat, or maybe me if they even saw me. I said to the first boat that I didn't realize there were two boats out. I think at one point, the new boat passed between the shore and me. I asked the first boat if they thought the second boat even saw me. They said maybe, but they weren't sure. I tried to give them a wave and an acknowledgement, but they seemed to ignore me. Weird.
So I set a pretty solid pace on my way back. I also stayed a little closer to shore to encourage the boat to pass a little further away from me. It all worked out pretty well and it was fun doing a quicker pace on the way back. But I sure did more sighting than I usually would do. I really like the first boat because they seem really conscious of what they are doing. Second boat gave me the willies. And they weren't even that good at water skiing.
Yes, this belongs in perils of lap swimming because I did one lap.
@curly
I too, have a "route" (set of routes, actually) that my kayaker and I tend to take when I go to the lake. I won't swim there w/out an escort though, because it's too heavily travelled.
My lake "peril" is fishermen........ when we start super early, they're out there to get the morning fish, and I always wave/speak to be sure they know I'm in the water and don't cast a line over-top of me. We were passing behind this one island the other week, and couldn't tell where their lines were (mom and pop set of fisherfolk)..... my kayaker did a great job of working out with them where we were, where their hooks were, and all that..... As I was finishing my feed, I mentioned to them that, "I don't want to be mistaken for a fish!"
The husband grumbled back good naturedly, "It'd be the first thing we caught all day!"
Now that the Labor Day holiday is past, the traffic will die down, especially the zipping too fast ski-dos and jet skis. So, no more fun wakes to play with. But, much safer!
Yes, we have fisherfolk as well. Usually they aren't in areas that I am. But I steer really clear of them because I cringe whenever I think of getting hooked.
One other aspect of my swim yesterday that caught me a little by surprise. Apparently I had told my kayaker that I would be home by around 10:00. I got to my car around 10:30 and found my phone had a couple missed calls and texts from the kayaker. Just as I started reading the first text the phone rang. "Where are you?!?" I said I just got to the car. She was furious. She actually was headed toward the lake because she was so concerned that she hadn't heard from me yet. So now I'm in trouble because I'm alive.
This is another peril that I hadn't even considered.
Curly
I do it!
Im extremly happy.that not give up befor 40 days! All was risk and adventure.but today swim one of the best ow swim in the world! My opinipn. I swim and lost time to watching so beautiful things ( first nature and villages!
Perfect was all ( sunny.ocean.on final 3k great waves))
Ok stop and go for beers!
30k- 8h.18min!( after so many months party)
I had 5 hr swim in the lake on my schedule today. All of my paddlers were unavailable, though. So, since it’s the last big swim before an event, I figured I’d buckle down and do it in the pool. There’s one pool in the area that’s open for 5 hrs on a weekend day, so off I went.
Entry fee is $4, so it was a very cost effective swim.
I let the teen lifeguards know what I was doing so that they wouldn’t worry too much, and to let them know I might need a tap on the head when the pool closed.
Felt great for the first three hours, felt ok for the fourth hour, and hung on for the last hour.
My peril? That would be the chaffing that I got on the top of my thighs from my legs rubbing against my suit on every flip turn. Not something I’ve experienced in the water before. So, now I know to pre-protect that area on future long swims. And, get a slicker fabric for my looong swims. “Endurance” fabric is a bit like sandpaper over time, it appears.
You see I avoid this problem by never doing flip turns... The fact that I can't do flip turns has nothing to do with it....
http://notdrowningswimming.com - open water adventures of a very ordinary swimmer
Update: Chaffing mostly resolved overnight. Still, wearing compression shorts to avoid unnecessary rubbing today, and getting comfortable w/ cortizone ointment.
I just started getting back into it at the local Y pool this week, and low and behold, my 2 biggest pet peeves still exist. #1=People who do the full lane takeover/starfish swim stroke at about 0.00001 miles per hour who will actually ask you NOT to share the lane with them, and #2= People who insist on physically making you stop your workout so they can TELL you they are going to share your lane. I can SEE you and I have clearly moved all the way over to the lane rope for you! Just get in! LOL. At least I'm back at it.
New one for me at the pool this morning... Lifeguard with an eye patch.
Better or worse than no lifeguard at all? I know it's hard to find people right now but 😂
(Selfishly of course I'll take pirate guard over no guard so I can still swim)
I guess he was keeping an eye out for you.
Not so much "lap" swimming, as open water training....
but, definitely a possible peril:
https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article254616762.html
Discovered a new peril today. I was swimming solo in a lane when all of a sudden a young lady and I nearly collided. Came out of nowhere. So we both stopped and I said, OK we'll split the lane, you take that side and I'll take this. She said fine and off we went. Which is when I nearly crashed into her friend who had also jumped into the lane, unannounced. Marvelous. So I stopped again and said that I didn't know there were three of us, so we will swim circles.
They agreed and I swam down to the end. Then I stopped to see what was going to happen next. Glad I did, because the first girl started swimming on my side of the lane coming at me. She flipped and headed down on the other side, so she was doing circles clockwise. Her friend was waiting down at the other end and we both hand signaled and let each other know that we would need to resolve this. That's when the pool manager stepped in to explain the situation to the two of them.
At a later point, the lane next to me opened up and they hopped over there. When we both were stopped at the same end of the lane I heard them talking and didn't totally recognize the accent. Turns out they were from Scotland. I asked if they swam clockwise there and they said that they usually did. They were apologetic for the misunderstanding earlier and I told them it was no big deal because nobody got hurt.
So I guess the rule is make sure you know which side of the road you're supposed to be driving on.