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2008-02-21 4:00 PM

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Orange County, CA
Subject: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
It occured to me today that I HATE the indoor pool at the gym. The air inside is stale, the water always seems murky, and it's crowded so I always have to share a lane (there are only 3 lanes), which can be distracting if you're swimming alongside someone. It's a chore to get through my swims there. Oh, and there is an adjoining steam room, sauna and hot tub, so people are constantly coming in and going out to use those. Just generally makes the enclosed pool area feel like Time Square during happy hour. Only no martinis served by a hot pool boy.

My favorite pool is a local community pool that is 10 lanes wide, plus a large diving area. It is outdoor, and during lap/adult swim they play good music. Plus, it is quite deep. For some reason, when I am swimming over very shallow water, it makes me feel alittle claustrophic and caged. Deep water gives me an unexplainable mental edge. I can flail about more comfortably. The perimeter outside the pool is large, and there is always a seemingly capable lifeguard on duty. Oh, and no sweaty men/women coming and going.

You?

Lisa


2008-02-21 4:15 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Sensei
Sin City
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

I have three that I routinely go to.  Pretty much the same.  The ones I don't like, but convenient if I want to go to lunch are bad for the same reasons you gave.  The nice one is a 50 meter pool, 5 lanes wide, clean, better lane markings, etc.  Good thing I use that one most.

The BEST pool I went to a couple times was a BEAUTIFUL outdoor pool open year round - I live in Vegas.  There is something nice to swim outside, but still be in clean water.  If I lived on the coast, the ocean would be my pool of choice.

2008-02-21 4:42 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Champion
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Dallas, TX
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Favorite: Any pool that has warm water.

Least Favorite: Any pool with cold water.

I stopped going to a pool I really liked (it was big, clean and always empty), because the water temperate was always at 70 degrees.

I also stopped going to a pool at a gym close to my work (at our previous office), because the water was so cold. I would drive 20 minutes out of my way to a warmer pool. That was the pool with 70 degree water. So yea, not much better.

I signed up for a tri club, just because they swim at a pool with warmer water.

After my office moved locations... I started going to a pool at a gym near by, because the water was warm.

I would love to find an outdoor pool for summer swimming, but I haven't found one that fits into my schedule. Oh well.
2008-02-21 4:45 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Master
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Port Moody, BC
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Lisa, please forward me your prefered dink list for martinis and the exact locale for the pool, I will be there promptly at Happy Hour with a drink tray, loin cloth and a cool shaker.  Unfortunatly, you will have to drink to make me hot...



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2008-02-21 5:37 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Pro
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Pittsburgh, my heart is in Glasgow
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
I swam competitively for about 13 years...and I've swum in some crap pools. The pool I worked at for the last 4 years was relatively nice, but we had some pump/clarity issues that were beyond our control for a while. It's a weird V shape.

Worst was the high school pool where my non-school swim team practiced. The water was so bad that it turned a deep blue swim suit pink. It was like bleach, had nasty stuff floating at the bottom (not like, normal stuff, but whole books, rolls of toilet paper, ponytails of fake hair). Misery.

The nicest I've ever raced in was at Miami University in Ohio. A crystal clear, deep, long course lap pool. Nicest temperature ever. And a separate diving well.
2008-02-21 6:00 PM
in reply to: #1226865

Veteran
128
10025
Orange County, CA
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
hazmaster - 2008-02-21 4:45 PM

Lisa, please forward me your prefered dink list for martinis and the exact locale for the pool, I will be there promptly at Happy Hour with a drink tray, loin cloth and a cool shaker.  Unfortunatly, you will have to drink to make me hot...


Hah!!!

My goggles are already fogged up, so you're in luck. :D



2008-02-22 1:26 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Veteran
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Kailua-Kona now in Oregon,
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

Well my fav pool is rather large, has fish, turtles, sharks, whales and waves and is truly like swimming in an aquarium. And it's only a couple minutes from home.

But besides that one my other fav is my community pool in Kona, Hawaii. It's 10 or so lanes wide (never counted them actually) olympic sized but divided in two and is the waveless type (no side walls). Nice lifeguards who play music most days (classical at night. It's outdoors and rarily crowded. Plus on any given day you can find a world class swimmer or coach around to ask advice or just watch to get pointers.

There's an area for kids and adults who can't swim where water aerobics are usually happening.

Oh, and the best part is it's free (are all community pools free?). No club to join, no usage fee, just show up and swim. Plus it's a great place to bike/run from. If you ever come to Kona check it out.

Also, it's right next to my work so its easy to go there at dinner break (I work evenings) and swim.

2008-02-22 1:34 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Expert
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Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
During my Navy days in San Diego I had 2 50 meter pools within a mile or so apart from one another.  Also, when working at the hospital, we had a 25 meter pool, very clean and usually not busy.  Not to mention Cornado Bay and the Pacific Ocean.....  Yet here I am in Michigan!!!!!  Our YMCA pools are OK, but way too warm. 
2008-02-22 4:07 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Expert
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London, UK
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
My favourite pool ever has to be the out door pool my swim team used in the summer. I was a teenager  and this being in Denmark, the girls in the team trained  in Speedos only to avoid tan lines. That's right. Topless swim girls. Heaven on earth for a 15 year old lad
2008-02-22 10:19 AM
in reply to: #1226773

Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

My gym pool deserves an award for the Nastiest Pool Ever.  It's warm and murky, with a constant supply of used Band-Aids at the bottom (usually the same ones from week to week), odd sand deposits, a deck area that is slippery and dirty, peeling paint on the walls (they told us it was going to be repainted when I joined).  And my personal favorite... little boys running around in the women's locker room despite the sign that asks parents not to bring them in. 

It's gotten nastier in the past two years, unfortunately.  I figured at first it would be a good idea to pick the closest pool, but next year I'm going to go with a pool that doesn't make me ill every time I think about it. 



 

2008-02-22 10:21 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Expert
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London, UK
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Oh yeah, least favourite would be the pool we used on a training camp in Croatia (well it was still Yugoslavia then), where we all ended up with a nasty covering of some sort of green algae. Nice.


2008-02-22 10:28 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Master
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Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
My favorite pool of all time is the University of Texas's pool... Its both an indoor 50 meter as well as a 25 yard pool with the bulkhead's, after that IUPUI in Indianapolis and the list is really long. I have been swimming for such a long time I have seen the entire spectrum of pools. The worst and no offense if anyone swims there are in Pekin, IL at the YMCA and Normal Community High School's pool. It was also a 4 lane pool.
2008-02-22 3:58 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Master
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brummie land
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

favourite - moss side leisure centre

 

 

least favourite - manchester aqauatics BUT the training pool there is great! shame the public pool is scabby  

2008-02-23 9:24 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Extreme Veteran
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Hoboken, NJ
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

Favorite: The one I'm sitting beside in a chaise, in the sun, holding a cocktail...
Least Favorite: The one I'm in... 

(why couldn't the 3rd discipline be rock climbing or roller blading or something??

2008-02-24 10:45 AM
in reply to: #1226773

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Master
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New York
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Best: the 50m team lap pool @ Kenyon (28 straight nat'l swimming championships!). 74 degrees, 10 lanes. A thing of pure beauty.

Worst: my current pool, at the 14th street Hebrew Center/gym in NYC where I currently belong. 4 lanes, 20 YARDS! (wtf?!?), two of which are permanently cordoned off for the folks who literally swim so slow they're defying gravity by not sinking. The remaining 2 lanes (yeah, a 4 lane pool) are perpertually packed with at least 3 if not 4 or 5 people. That, and it's only open for lap swim from 6-7a, and and then two nights a week from 8-9p. Oy!
2008-02-24 10:52 AM
in reply to: #1230699

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Extreme Veteran
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Upstate, SC
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
ezl - 2008-02-23 10:24 AM

Favorite: The one I'm sitting beside in a chaise, in the sun, holding a cocktail...
Least Favorite: The one I'm in... 

(why couldn't the 3rd discipline be rock climbing or roller blading or something??



Couldn't have said it better myself!


2008-02-24 4:18 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Extreme Veteran
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Bend, OR
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

SunMonkey72, I see you live close by. 

I had the same issue with pools being too crowded until I moved out to Corona recently and found a gym with almost all body builders so I figured that would be the best place to swim.  I was right!  Won't see a bodybuilder swimming in the pool unless it's a short dip. I'm usually the only one swimming....happily

2008-02-24 4:48 PM
in reply to: #1230699

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Elite
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Armpit of Ontario
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
ezl - 2008-02-23 10:24 AM

Favorite: The one I'm sitting beside in a chaise, in the sun, holding a cocktail...
Least Favorite: The one I'm in... 

(why couldn't the 3rd discipline be rock climbing or roller blading or something??

Absolutely; as in my sig: Do the Du. Stay dry.  Let the kiddies pee play in the water.

 

 

2008-02-24 6:28 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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Master
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Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
My favorite pool ever is the one on the upper floor of Hearst Gymnasium on the University of California campus in Berkeley. It's totally decadent. If being on the second floor isn't odd enough, the sides and bottom are made of slabs of black marble. It's enclosed on three sides by terraced levels and overlooks a field where people are usually playing frisbee when the weather is nice. I rarely made it to the class that followed my swimming p.e., which was taught by a guy who had been on the Olympic team.

It was a swee deal all the way around.
2008-02-24 6:52 PM
in reply to: #1226773

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2008-02-24 7:51 PM
in reply to: #1226773

Expert
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Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

Favorite- the pool at my college (note-I was not on the swim team in college)

Least favorite- this absolutely disgusting pool we had a few swim meets at in high school- the whole building was just gross, the water disgusting, and you had to wear flip flops right to the starting blocks, it was that bad.  Makes every pool look good compared to that one. 



2008-02-24 9:51 PM
in reply to: #1231953

Expert
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St. Paul, MN
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
KenyonTri - 2008-02-24 10:45 AM
Worst: my current pool, at the 14th street Hebrew Center/gym in NYC where I currently belong. 4 lanes, 20 YARDS! (wtf?!?), two of which are permanently cordoned off for the folks who literally swim so slow they're defying gravity by not sinking. The remaining 2 lanes (yeah, a 4 lane pool) are perpertually packed with at least 3 if not 4 or 5 people. That, and it's only open for lap swim from 6-7a, and and then two nights a week from 8-9p. Oy!


I swim at a nice pool at a local private women's college. For some reason, they allow the public to swim there for a very reasonable price. Last year though, it was closed for a couple weeks for some reason or another. The alternative school I worked at brought our students to the YMCA next door for "gym class." They were nice enough to give me a free 10-punch pass to use their pool when I inquired about it. I had never seen the pool before that, but it turned out to be pretty similar to the one you are describing. Fortunately, it was never that crowded though. Aside from being 20 yards long, it was always in the mid 80s for temperature. It felt like I was swimming in a pool of sweat. Yuck.
2016-05-12 9:53 AM
in reply to: 0


38
25
, Vermont
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Originally posted by KenyonTri

Best: the 50m team lap pool @ Kenyon (28 straight nat'l swimming championships!). 74 degrees, 10 lanes. A thing of pure beauty.

Worst: my current pool, at the 14th street Hebrew Center/gym in NYC where I currently belong. 4 lanes, 20 YARDS! (wtf?!?), two of which are permanently cordoned off for the folks who literally swim so slow they're defying gravity by not sinking. The remaining 2 lanes (yeah, a 4 lane pool) are perpertually packed with at least 3 if not 4 or 5 people. That, and it's only open for lap swim from 6-7a, and and then two nights a week from 8-9p. Oy!


Have you looked into the 14th St YMCA as an alternative? Also, Riverside and Asphalt Green have nice pools, but much further uptown.

Edited by ninagski 2016-05-12 9:54 AM
2016-05-12 10:06 AM
in reply to: sunmonkey72


702
500100100
Aledo, Texas
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool

I don't know that I have a favorite or least favorite, but the Big Stacy pool in Austin is very unique. I don't live in Austin, but travel there with some regularity for work. Anyone can swim at the pool for no charge. Hours are extensive.

What's strange about the pool is that it is 33.33 yards long. It makes pacing challenging, simply because a length time will not ever correspond to the time on a traditional length pool.

Also, a lot of homeless come to the pool to use the showers. Just not what I would normally expect to see when trying to get in a swim workout.

2016-05-12 10:22 AM
in reply to: ninagski

Member
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Exton, PA
Subject: RE: Favorite vs. least favorite pool
Originally posted by ninagski

Originally posted by KenyonTri

Best: the 50m team lap pool @ Kenyon (28 straight nat'l swimming championships!). 74 degrees, 10 lanes. A thing of pure beauty.

Worst: my current pool, at the 14th street Hebrew Center/gym in NYC where I currently belong. 4 lanes, 20 YARDS! (wtf?!?), two of which are permanently cordoned off for the folks who literally swim so slow they're defying gravity by not sinking. The remaining 2 lanes (yeah, a 4 lane pool) are perpertually packed with at least 3 if not 4 or 5 people. That, and it's only open for lap swim from 6-7a, and and then two nights a week from 8-9p. Oy!


Have you looked into the 14th St YMCA as an alternative? Also, Riverside and Asphalt Green have nice pools, but much further uptown.


You might be waiting a while for a response, that guy has not logged on to this site for 6 years!
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