Shallow or Deep Pool?

There are five 25 yard or 50 meter pools within 1 mile of my house- blatant brag. And an open water swimming lake 2 blocks away and the ocean 12 miles away. It's good.

I like deeper water for swimming. I'm not sure why.

Somewhat interestingly, there was a theory that pools for world record competition had to be over some specified depth- not sure what that was- to prevent "shock waves" traveling through the water from the swimmer reverberating off the bottom and hitting the swimmer again producing a propulsive effect (!).

Are the temperatures the same?

The one with fewer people in it.

*winner*

The race pool (the deep one) is kept at 80F, the other pool doesn't have anything listed but I've never noticed a difference between them.

it sounds like you need some work on a high elbow catch

I have hit my back on the bottom of the pool while turning in a 3 ft pool. Obviously poor form on my end.

Some might say that...

but my wingspan is 6'6"

Same same but different. I would use one or the other, but not both. As mentioned if you're used to 25m and know your pace then it's really preferable, but the difference in length doesn't matter that much.

Regarding depth, 3ft is shallow if you're doing flip turns (yeah, here it is the flip turn discussion ).

Most pools I've been to have a small shelf at about 5ft depth you can rest on, but you still need to hold on to something. An arm on the lane rope is usually sufficient also, no need to tread water.

BR

I'd choose the one the old ladies are NOT in.

Try them both. You may find you have a preference. Ultimately you want to pick the pool that will enable you to do the most swimming.

True. gutter systems are basically infinity pool edges so all waves flow out but not back. Depth is usually at least 7 feet. The ones you see on tv are deeper. Keeps the water as still as possible. pump/circulation systems are designed to minimize any currents or turned off completely during competition.