Here we go again...Yes I pee in the pool!!! (Page 2)

I'm pretty sure that was Lochte, not Phelps.

Left Brain - 2012-09-29 5:03 PM I asked my kids, "do you pee in the pool during your workouts?"  My son immediately piped up, "dad, if we get out to pee then we have to do a 400 butterfly before we get back to the workout....NOBODY is getting out of the pool."  

So, their coaches are idiots, but the kids are making the best of the situation? 

TriMyBest - 2012-09-29 7:11 PM

Left Brain - 2012-09-29 5:03 PM I asked my kids, "do you pee in the pool during your workouts?"  My son immediately piped up, "dad, if we get out to pee then we have to do a 400 butterfly before we get back to the workout....NOBODY is getting out of the pool."  

So, their coaches are idiots, but the kids are making the best of the situation? 

 

I have no idea....I never swam as a kid.  The kids are fast, I know that.  I also know the kids all laugh about it.  Nobody gets too worked up about it.  

I think most coaches have at least one idiot tendency....this one doesn't seem to be causing any problems.

Must depend on the team.....I swam competitively from age 10 to 17, on high school and age-group teams, and managed never to pee in a pool. If my teammates did, we certainly didn't talk about it. Admitting to doing so would probably have led to the dreaded 400m butterfly, knowing our coaches (an Ironman, and an MD). Occasionally people had to "go", and we were allowed to do so, in the proper facilities. I now coach kids aged 7-17, and have never heard anyone discussing or bragging about peeing in the pool. My swimmers are certainly allowed to take a restroom break if needed; I remind the younger ones to do so before practice starts. The only time I've heard it mentioned was at our championship meet, some of our elementary kids were complaining that the host team said they peed in the pool. I told them they were just trying to psyche us out, and to ignore it and swim their best. Didn't want to give the innocents any ideas LOL.

OWS--another story. I'd still try not to "go" unless I had to, and to swim away from others if possible. But given the amount of crap in the water in Asia, it's not like it's going to make a huge difference, esp. in an ocean swim!

I think it's a funny subject....seeing as how there is plenty of talk about it if you google it, but not a single story that I could find about someone getting sick from it.  The most quoted survey says 1 in 5 adults pee in the pool, and most articles that quote competitive swimmers say virtually all of them do.  

For the record, I don't, but if you told me someone did before I got in the pool for a workout I'd just jump in and swim.  I'm pretty good with the idea that public pools, especially those used heavily by kids, are just full of stuff I don't want to drink. (maybe this is a good time to mention that most articles I found said that the average adult swallows about 2 tablespoons of pool water in a mile swim)

And the biology of it is not any different than and lake or fish tank. Amonia is quickly converted to nitrites and then nitrates by bacteria. Yet in a pool with all the chlorine there is no biological break down and we just swim in ammonia. Pee itself is not "dirty"... it is the bacteria it feeds as a food source. Besides denitrification bacteria, it is a nutrient source to anything else.

So no, it isn't the end of the world... fecal matter can carry many other critters and parasites. Wetting the surface of the skin for 5 seconds does nothing for the butt crack. It would almost be OK to pee in a pool if everyone had to sit on a bidet before swimming to get "clean".

But at the end of the day... what's the point? It isn't a natural body of water that has water flowing in a and out. It is a bath tub that never get's drained. Concentrations of nutrients, organic matter and disolved organic matter build up. Chlorine most certainly effects some, me, and I feel like I have a cold all day after swimming in a over chlorinated pool.

Bottom line is it isn't the end of the world. However, there is strength in numbers and the usual excuse is given... well he does it, so I will too. What the heck does that have to do with anything? Probably 2/3 of people use the same excuse and if those 2/3 would just choose to act accordingly, we would all be swimming in cleaner water and less chlorine. But who cares, everyone does it..... and no, it does not keep me from swimming, but it would be nice if it was different.

And that is pretty funny too.... because we all know it happens, I'm just curious how many azz whoopings would happen if all those that peed in the pool got out and just did it in the open. Just stood on the side and took a wizz right there.... how is that any different? Every one would be perfectly OK with that right? And then of course since someone else did it... you woul ddo it then too right?

Thank you for raising your kids right.  Sad to see so many 'adults' acting in such an immature/lazy manner.  What's even sadder, is starting a thread that brags about peeing in the pool.  If the poster was 6 years old, it'd made sense.  But a grown adult?  Really?

Hey, I'm trying to raise my kids right....but have you ever had to do a 400 butterfly after you pee'd?  Hell, I'd be so traumatized I'd never pee again. 

When you post something like this, you're naive to think you won't get attacked.  So, to me, it sounds like you knew you'd get attacked and wanted to provoke a flame war, not simply put in some light-hearted comedy.  You, as an ADULT, pee in the pool, shared by other swimmers at your club, gym, whatever.  You're not some 5 year old that I would expect would do something like this.  You're a (at least physically albeit not mentally) grown man.  Do it in your own pool.  Do it in the ocean or a lake or a river.  Not in a public pool.

And if you did that at my gym, I would immediately go to the front desk and get your membership revoked.

Front-end disclaimer: I do not pee in the pool. Heck, I hardly spend any time in the pool these days, but that is a different story.

What I don't understand is the squeamishness, My googling shows that the average 25-meter pool holds 330K gallons, or 42million ounces of water. If 1000 people each pee 8 ounces of urine, the concentration is 00.0189%. I would bet the average lake or pond has a lot more nasties than that. Can you say "fecal coliform"?

I don't pee in the pool.. but I thought urine is sterile.. that doesn't really work me up much. 

Fingernails and hair kinda gross me out more.

I've an olympic in two weeks and the swim is in some kinda retention pond they call a lake.. and that is grossing me out a bit... Last year I remember it smelling funky. 

Could you really do that?

You couldn't at my gym.. but again.. I go to the Y and I think it's anything goes there...

Some people are just plain nasty

My gym would laugh at you.....just saying.  We belong to the local Y, and it's a fantastic place....but you could complain about that all you want and when you walked away they'd be rolling their eyes and cracking up.  Part of the reason I've enjoyed the place so much over the years is that they just don't care much about complainers....they'd rather they just quit.  I've seen it happen many, many times.

Look, it's ridiculous to call someone "egotistical" or "having a God complex" if they don't follow a rule that NOBODY follows.  That's just dumb.  I rinse off because I like to be wet before I get in the pool.....I'm not delusional, it does nothing but help me acclimate to the water faster than I do if I don't rinse.

I've been happy with my gym for a number of reasons.....we have raised our children there and the programs are top notch.  I also like that they basically make complainers unwelcome....you know why, because someone can always find something to complain about.  Personally, I hate complainers, so I really enjoy their attitude toward them.  

I'm sure you "wouldn't want to belong" to a gym that would laugh at complainers......we're good with that.  Really good.

Oh yeah....just for the record....nowhere is it posted that it's against the rules to pee in the pool....I suppose you're just out of luck if you complain. 

I think I'm giving up swimming.

Wait a minute man.. I read your blog... You are gonna swim the English Channel. I am sure there are a lot of crazy things in that body of water...

LOL. Actually I swam the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim this summer (which I have yet to write about) and almost gave up the sport after swimming in the Harlem River. Yuk! That was a one and done race for me. I don't know how people can stomach swimming it more than once. I'm sticking with open ocean swims.

See, at my gym, there are a lot of adult members who act like mature adults and follow the rules.  Every once in a while, we need to remind another adult about the rules.  Our pool, which is a YMCA does have a sign saying no peeing in the pool.  

Now I workout out when it opens (5am).  Maybe we all follow the rules because we are all fellow athletes who respect the gym and each other.  Maybe in the evening the non mature 'adults' show up and act like like children.  I don't know.  I'm never there in the evening.   

Ps. One shouldn't need a sign or a rule not too pee in the pool.  Human decency should dictate that (or lack of). 

That's great, really! I'm happy for you!

Just know that every afternoon and evening your pool is full of older, overweight, adults, and very young children who don't shower and frequently pee in your pool.  Hopefully, you being first in, alot of it gets absorbed or drank early in the day. 

I encourage you to complain.