smaller pool = tougher swim

that's the purpose of the "gutter", it reduces waves as well as serving as an efficient means of
water circulation. Although the size of the pool does have an effect on the choppyness of the water
the gutter allows waves to enter but not to leave, reducing choppyness. Compitition pools sometimes
have grates 5 feet wide on the edges to absorb the waves of the pool and in combination with wave
reducing lane lines can make for a very smoothe pool.

"mrdancer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Lately they've been doing some work around the pool at the local Y, and

have

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dropped the water level to a coupla inches below the splash gutter (or whatever it's called) lip.
This effectively makes the surface of the pool around 30 or so inches shorter in both length and
width, although swimming distance between walls remains the same.

Since they've done this, I've noticed that I seem to be struggling a

little

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more against waves, etc. At first, I thought that maybe I was just

getting

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a little out of shape; however....

At the end of my lunchtime swim (2/3-mile), I always do a short stretching routine in the shallow
end of the pool. Normally, by the time I'm done stretching, the surface of the pool is dead calm
(I'm often the only one

in

Quoted message said:

there). However, with the lowered water level, I notice a pretty good

chop

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is still present on the surface by the time I'm finished with my

stretching.

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So methinks the lack of wave-dampening (damping?) afforded by a full pool

is

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creating additional chop to push me around during my swim....

(oh yeah, this pool has no roped lanes, it is all open with just painted lanes on the bottom of
the pool)

thoughts? comments?

In mrdancer said:

(oh yeah, this pool has no roped lanes, it is all open with just painted lanes on the bottom of
the pool)

Modern lane ropes probably do more to dampen waves than the lip-style gutters, perhaps even more
than the grating-style gutters. With no ropes nor gutters, you must have quite a choppy pool.

Perfect for practicing your open-water style.

Ross

And here I thought I was imagining things!

I swim at two different pools. The first one is an old style 25 yard pool with an extended wall
above the surface of the water. The gutters are about six inches below the top of the wall so there
is still plenty of back wash, even in the roped off lane areas. The second pool is a new 25 meter
pool where the surface of the water is flush with the gutters. The gutters are actually slits in the
deck where the water splashes over and down for recycling. I thought it was my imagination that the
swims in the meter pool felt more fluid. I thought about the gutter/back wash problem and am glad to
hear that I'm not so far off the mark.

"Ross Bogue" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In mrdancer said:

(oh yeah, this pool has no roped lanes, it is all open with just painted lanes on the bottom of
the pool)

Modern lane ropes probably do more to dampen waves than the lip-style gutters, perhaps even more
than the grating-style gutters. With no ropes nor gutters, you must have quite a choppy pool.

Perfect for practicing your open-water style.

lol - that's somewhat true. Except that I'm getting tossed around in all different directions from
waves bouncing side to side.

They have no lane lines because the pool is used mostly by older folks for aquacizing, rehab, etc.
They have another pool across town that's used for swimming events, but it's too far for me to go on
my lunch break.

They (the Y) started filling the pool yesterday, but only brought it up an inch or so. It's still
2-3 inches below the lip of the gutter. I asked the lifeguard on duty to let the pool maintenance
person know that the water level really should be even with the lip of the gutter.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

And here I thought I was imagining things!

I swim at two different pools. The first one is an old style 25 yard pool with an extended wall
above the surface of the water. The gutters are about six inches below the top of the wall so
there is still plenty of back wash, even in the roped off lane areas. The second pool is a new 25
meter pool where the surface of the water is flush with the gutters. The gutters are actually
slits in the deck where the water splashes over and down for recycling. I thought it was my
imagination that the swims in the meter pool felt more fluid. I thought about the gutter/back wash
problem and am glad to hear that I'm not so far off the mark.

It's my understanding that the swimming pool used for the 1972 Olympics in Munich was the first
"modern" pool used in the Olympics. Incorporating such things as splash gutters, heavier lane lines,
greater depth, adequate lighting, and water vents on the bottom, and not on the side. And not
surprisingly, those games produced more World records in swimming than any other.

I wish had some exact numbers regarding the number of records set in 1972 Olympics versus others,
but I don't. Anybody else a number cruncher out there and have some data on that?

-Eric

mrdancer said:

lol - that's somewhat true. Except that I'm getting tossed around in all different directions from
waves bouncing side to side.

When the pool is not filled all the way right to the edge of the gutter, there will be waves, and
due to the additive nature of wave amplitudes, the waves get bigger the more people there are in the
pool. It gets worse as the water level drops, until it reaches about 3-5 inches below the edge.

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They have no lane lines because the pool is used mostly by older folks for aquacizing, rehab, etc.
They have another pool across town that's used for swimming events, but it's too far for me to go
on my lunch break.

Well, this is pretty much the way it is everywhere in Norway. What I do is pretend I am doing open
water training. My expectations are much different then, and I enjoy the swim more.

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They (the Y) started filling the pool yesterday, but only brought it up an inch or so. It's still
2-3 inches below the lip of the gutter. I asked the lifeguard on duty to let the pool maintenance
person know that the water level really should be even with the lip of the gutter.

It would be odd if a pool maintenance guy didn't know about keeping the water level up. A low water
level also means that the filter system won't be working properly, since the surface water can't
reach the gutters, and the surface water usually contains most of the goop. Sometimes, a low water
level means the pool is leaking, which would mean they would have to drain it to fix the leak. Or
there could be a leak in the plumbing, but that is less likely.

martin

--
Martin Smith email: [email hidden] Vollsveien 9 tel. : +47 6783 1188
P.O. Box 482 mob. : +47 932 48 303 1327 Lysaker, Norway

"Martin W. Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

They (the Y) started filling the pool yesterday, but only brought it up

an

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

inch or so. It's still 2-3 inches below the lip of the gutter. I asked

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

lifeguard on duty to let the pool maintenance person know that the water level really should be
even with the lip of the gutter.

It would be odd if a pool maintenance guy didn't know about keeping the water level up. A low
water level also means that the filter system won't be working properly, since the surface water
can't reach the gutters, and the surface water usually contains most of the goop. Sometimes, a low
water level means the pool is leaking, which would mean they would have to drain it to fix the
leak. Or there could be a leak in the plumbing, but that is less likely.

I suspect this may have been a regular maintenance guy that was just trained to be a pool custodian
(they run a pretty tight budget at this Y wrt maintenance and services). I think they know just
enough to keep the water treated 🙁 .... This particular pool doesn't get used much, maybe 50
people/day.