USA Swimming – Coach, Can You Make this Pool Warmer?
BY MIKE GUSTAFSON//CORRESPONDENT
You stand on the gutter’s edge, staring into the blue abyss. Before you is a pond, a lake, a sea, an ocean of competitive waters. Behind you, a clock ticks down towards the swim practice’s official beginning, and you know, in a few seconds, your momentarily warm and humid environment will transform into a swirling, weightless world of cold water. You splash as fast as you can, but no matter what you do, for those first few lengths, the pool’s water just feels freezing. You hope you’ll get used to it. You know the cold will feel differently in about 200 yards from now. But still. It’s cold.Sound familiar?“This pool is freezing!” was the most common swimmer complaint I heard when I coached. It was also the most common swimmer complaint I heard when I was a swimmer. Chattering teeth. Shivering muscles. Sitting at the gutter, not wanting to get in. “I just don’t like how cold the pool is.” “Why is the pool like ice?”“Can you make this pool warmer, Coach?”
Source: USA Swimming – Coach, Can You Make this Pool Warmer?