i too swam competitively for a while in middle and high school....then i started smoking cigs.

then i decided to take swim conditioning and had the joy of coughing up blood every other day.


needless to say, i dont smoke anymore. but i still swim.

7/12/2006 12:59:28 PM

Quote :

"Also, a mile is 1500 meters or 1650 yards."

1 mile = 1609.344 meters
1 mile = 1760 yards

7/12/2006 1:19:52 PM

^^Good for you. Seriously.

7/12/2006 1:33:40 PM

I would love to join you guys... um I was pretty good back in the day... I swam year round for 12 years and swam at the national level. I haven't really been in the pool for a few years though... got in last night for the first time in a few months and it was painful! Haha, but I would love to get a group together. It will keep everyone motivated!

7/12/2006 1:40:10 PM

"Also, a mile is 1500 meters or 1650 yards."


1 mile = 1609.344 meters
1 mile = 1760 yards

this is very true... but in swimming, 1500 meters or 1650 yards is the event length for the mile.

7/12/2006 1:41:50 PM

well since water measurements should be in nautical miles...
1 nautical mile = ~2025 yards
1 nautical mile = 1852 meters

but thats not how its done for swimming apparently

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 1:49 PM. Reason : I'll just swim nm's]

7/12/2006 1:48:58 PM

Well, if you are talking to a forum of non swimmers, then you need to educate us on swim terminology, or at the very least, don't state it like this

Quote :

"Also, a mile is 1500 meters or 1650 yards."

Because I assure you, that a mile is definitely not 1500 meters. A "swim mile", might be.

I'm not a swimmer, sounds pretty dumb that you folks developed such stupid terminology.

7/12/2006 2:03:15 PM

Quote :

"This is going to reach 2 pages and only 2 post will be valid"

7/12/2006 2:10:31 PM

Quote :

"this is very true... but in swimming, 1500 meters or 1650 yards is the event length for the mile."

when i competed, there was no "mile" competition....there was a 1500 meters race. i dont think the 1500 was supposed to be the equivilent of a mile....there just isnt a "mile" race in competitive swimming.

ive never heard the 1500m race being called a mile. im not saying that some people don't, but i don't see why they would....its not a mile.

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 3:43 PM. Reason : df]

7/12/2006 3:43:11 PM

I've only gotten a good response so far from Impact Athletics, they've got a 5-lane indoor heated lap pool, everyone else is ridiculously overprices for an outdoor seasonal pool

Is Pullen indoor, and do you need a membership?

I'm slow with google today

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 6:39 PM. Reason : \/ FUCK YOU]

[Edited on July 12, 2006 at 6:40 PM. Reason : .]

7/12/2006 6:33:14 PM

http://www.google.com

7/12/2006 6:37:10 PM

Quote :

"The standard pool size is 25 meters. Olympic size, however, is 50 meters."

here in the US the standard pool size is 25 yards. Olympic, however, is still 50 m.

7/12/2006 10:02:34 PM

Quote :

"It will keep everyone motivated!"

exactly, but I'm moving to durham in a few days for work.

7/12/2006 10:04:05 PM

Quote :

"She went to do the flip turn thing and ended up breaking her nose."

she looked backwards when she shouldn't have, not a flags thing really it's either a 'i'm fucking stupid and can't remember my count till i flip so ill look back at the wall' or 'i forgot when the flags were or where i am so ill look back at the wall'

end result is the same, smashed nose....

on that note, that's only the second person i've heard of doing that....

7/12/2006 10:07:43 PM

Quote :

"I would love to join you guys... um I was pretty good back in the day... I swam year round for 12 years and swam at the national level. I haven't really been in the pool for a few years though... got in last night for the first time in a few months and it was painful! Haha, but I would love to get a group together. It will keep everyone motivated!"

Ill talk to my friend when I get back from Colorado. Im pretty sure the class suggests 2-3 times a week practice other than the actual class it self which will be ~5 times a week but seriously, I need this. Will be in touch, thanks.

7/13/2006 12:03:20 AM

nm

[Edited on July 13, 2006 at 7:54 AM. Reason : nm]

7/13/2006 7:53:44 AM

ah, for the swim conditioning class i never practiced outside of class really, got an A

7/13/2006 12:16:20 PM

^ good to hear, but I need to get/maintain a high-level of fitness for athletics and I have heard this class, pending your professor, is solid.

7/13/2006 3:55:59 PM

What were the classes like for this class...distance...pace...etc?

7/13/2006 4:11:22 PM

In the US, 99% of pools are in YARDS, not meters

Some, like Pullen, have a movable bulkhead so that the length can be changed for different competitions. But if there's no bulkhead then you can be pretty certain that your pool is yards.

And I would not recommend taking Swim Conditioning until your skill has improved some. That class spends zero time on stroke technique, which it sounds like you need. Instead you should take Intermediate Swimming.

I have taught people to swim before, but I'm out of town until mid August. My number one piece of advice is to buy a pair of goggles. It will make your swimming experience much better. And don't buy the kiddie ones they have at Walmart, it's worth it to go to a sporting supply store and spend $10-15 to get a nice pair. You can try them on in the store, most packages you can take goggles out without cutting any plastic. To fit properly they should suction-stick after you press them to your eyes.

7/13/2006 4:41:38 PM

I finally got to impact fitness today, their pool is a nice 5-lane lap pool... and man do I suck at swimming. I filtered a good amount of pool water through my nose and lungs

my pace and breathing/timing suck

7/16/2006 5:34:05 PM

Swim everyday now in the pool of my subdivision.

7/10/2013 9:59:22 PM

is this a formal invitation?

7/10/2013 10:52:31 PM

Well, you want to come? I'd like to improve my freestyle if you can teach me.

7/10/2013 11:01:39 PM

2006? Wow.

But I can advocate the premise of this thread, regardless.

7/11/2013 12:01:40 AM

i <3 swimming.

i've had knee issues the past few weeks and swimming has been great.

trying to keep up with doing a mile every few days.

7/11/2013 8:56:59 AM

What style do u use? My record is a mile a day in my high school.

7/11/2013 9:06:02 AM

style?

i do free style - only stroke i can do that doesn't hurt my knee. granted when i swim i don't use my legs anyways.

7/11/2013 9:18:55 AM

I swim laps fairly often now. I'll normally do 50-100 lengths (25M) depending on time. I still do the occasional open water swim on weekends, but not as often as I used to.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 10:11 AM. Reason : l]

7/11/2013 10:09:10 AM

Which open water do u go to? Lake Jordan?
Man, I will always remember my childhood time when I swam in downtown Beijing!

7/11/2013 10:33:12 AM

i just cant wrap my head around swimming working you out hard.

im not saying i dont believe it, but for me hard work is sweatin, pains from doing intense shit while supporting and moving your body weight against gravity.

they say you sweat more and burn more calories swimming than other methods. Maybe its not 100% true but I cant wrap my head around it being true at all.

7/11/2013 1:48:00 PM

as opposed to swimming for survival

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

7/11/2013 1:53:16 PM

i swim hard enough, i'm definitely sweating. you just can't tell because you're in the water.

7/11/2013 2:10:51 PM

I wish there was a more accessible (cheaper) pool around me. I've done it all...and swimming is the best workout I've ever had.

^^^ You ever swam til exhaustion??

7/11/2013 2:21:24 PM

its basically the equivalent of running, using mostly your upper body, through a viscous fluid while only taking a breath every third or fourth step.

nothing easy about that. . . . . .

7/11/2013 2:22:51 PM

^^i dont swim long, but yes ive been exhausted before

ill have to try it, but if someone were to say to me "hey instead of runnin those gassers and doign some plyo...go swim in that pool until you get tired." id be lookin at them funny

and maybe foolishly, id be like "thank god i dont have to sprint and do plyo!!"

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 2:46 PM. Reason : f]

7/11/2013 2:44:47 PM

When u r exhausted, u r gonna drown!

7/11/2013 3:10:54 PM

^^ I think because its refreshing at the same time as its exhausting. I know when I go on a long run or do a workout in the 90 degree heat that I finish it by dumping water on myself or taking a cool shower. When you're swimming, you're doing that the entire time.

7/11/2013 3:17:22 PM

Water in the public pool is never clean. People's sweat, body fluid, etc can always be there.

7/11/2013 3:33:51 PM

- swims in lake in beijing
- concerned about water quality of public pool in america

7/11/2013 4:00:41 PM

Thank u sir!

7/11/2013 4:09:31 PM

up the hill from Lake Johnson there's a public pool.

Whether you want to swim in a public pool for exercise is a different matter.

7/11/2013 4:20:50 PM

To the OP (7 years ago?) ... happy with the Triangle Aquatics Center in Cary.

@BigHitSunday. I can easily burn 1000 calories swimming.

7/11/2013 7:38:43 PM

Quote :

"i just cant wrap my head around swimming working you out hard. im not saying i dont believe it, but for me hard work is sweatin, pains from doing intense shit while supporting and moving your body weight against gravity."

I think of it as a different type of work than my gym workouts. When I first started swimming I would exhaust myself to the point that my body felt like jelly, but without the acute soreness and aches that accompany weight training. It's definitely a different type of exercise and a different type of tiredness, but swimming can certainly wear you out and leave you feeling it the next day.

The whole "minimal breathing" part differentiates it from most normal workouts. It helps condition your body (and your mind to some extent) to work efficiently on as few breaths as possible. If you're breathing on every stroke it's probably not that different from jogging, but when you start taking more and more strokes on each breath you really have to fight to stay calm and exert energy while essentially holding your breath. I can tell a difference in lung conditioning the first few times I get in the pool if I go a month or two without swimming even if I've been keeping up with my other workouts. There's something to be said for conditioning your body to work on minimal amounts of oxygen.

Quote :

"they say you sweat more and burn more calories swimming than other methods. Maybe its not 100% true but I cant wrap my head around it being true at all."

I can believe it. If I push myself in the pool I'll come out with noticeably red chest/shoulders and steam coming off my body. I can get to that point exercising outdoors when it's cool out, but it seems to take a lot more intensity.

Another thing to consider is that your body is an open thermodynamic system. Water saps energy away in the form of heat loss much more efficiently than air does which forces your body to crank up the metabolism to keep the core temperature up. The effect might not be as noticeable in the summer, but in the fall/winter/spring when pool water (indoor in the winter) is noticeably cooler than the air you can burn a lot more calories in the water than you can out of it. Exercising outdoors in the winter provides some of the same effect as your body works to keep the core warm despite the cold air entering your chest, but it's not even close to the metabolic effect of being surrounded by cold water.

Another benefit...A moderate swim is great for sore muscles. It stretches them and stimulates blood flow which helps in repair. A lot of times when my arms are sore I'll hop in the pool for 40-50 lengths at a moderate pace. It seems to speed up the recovery time. This probably only works after you're proficient at swimming. Until you reach a certain amount of efficiency with your stroke you'll probably be sore after a swim.

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 10:06 AM. Reason : l]

7/12/2013 10:05:56 AM

R u writing a paper on swimming?

7/12/2013 10:23:27 AM

I agree with pretty much everything Skack said, from my experience swimming. Something about simply being in the water that causes the body to start working hard.

Quote :

"I think of it as a different type of work than my gym workouts. When I first started swimming I would exhaust myself to the point that my body felt like jelly, but without the acute soreness and aches that accompany weight training. It's definitely a different type of exercise and a different type of tiredness, but swimming can certainly wear you out and leave you feeling it the next day."

This is the best/worst thing about swimming, I'd say. When I'm swimming, I never feel like I'm getting a good "workout", but afterwards the same two things always happen:
1) Fatigued: assured night of deep sleep
2) Hungry: appetite ramps up (what feels like) infinitely

And yeah, being in the water you don't notice sweat / overheating as much, so that probably contributes to the mental pscyh-out as well.

7/12/2013 11:02:53 AM

Yeah, my appetite is insatiable after a long swim.

7/12/2013 11:19:59 AM

I feel like if I swam for exercise I'd want a snorkel. I'm not coordinated enough to time my breathing. What I'd love to do is get scuba gear and just swim around underwater all day - not sure if it would be close exercise wise but scuba diving is the best feeling ever.

7/12/2013 1:06:17 PM

You can swim with fins and a snorkel. Different kind of workout, but still effective.

Especially if you're using rigid fins.

7/12/2013 3:59:03 PM

Quote :

"I'm not coordinated enough to time my breathing."

Of course you can't do it if you talk yourself out of it before you start.

You're fully capable of developing a rhythm of swimming and breathing. We're all n00bs at some point and I assure you that nobody working out in the pool is wasting their time gawking at the person beside them or worrying about whether you're doing it right.

7/13/2013 2:22:52 PM