Swimming for fitness (part 5). The pools are open again. Dust off your goggles and dive in!

[TheOrigRights]

We're so busy counting laps we didn't see part 4 fill up!

Everyone is welcome here.

How annoying @sazza42 . Would the lifeguard say something if you asked?

My usual pool is shut due to concrete problems. I’m putting up with the fancier one which only has 2 lanes up. It’s tricky as I’m a medium speed swimmer.

I'm not fast enough unfortunately to swim with the fast folk - I love being put through my paces when I'm fit though!

I've calmed down a bit now & will go back next week but stay away from the rude man's lane. I should have realised he was a problem when I got in & he was the only person with a lane to himself...

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Ah, I'm the poster who started this thread. I've name changed. Hellooooo.

I swam today. 900m with a pull buoy the whole time as I've broken my foot and can't kick.

I usually do 1k but thought the session (advertised as 1:5 hr) was 1 1/2 hrs but it was 1hr 5, so I ran out time. I try and time it so I'm in for the last 1/2hr of a session as the pool gets more and more empty.

I need to go more often while my foot heals. I do enjoy it but it's not my first love (running)

Hi thank you for the resurrection. I’m struggling at the moment, I’ve signed up for coniston this year which is a stretch for me to put it mildly. I had a plan, plan was going well. Did a 3k a couple of weeks ago, coniston is 8k then dad went into a&e last week very ill, still there, mum now staying with me and swimming time this week zero. I did try and go Tuesday (dl gym) genuinely no car parking space, then got a phone call from dad so went home. Hoping to get there today but need to get out of bed like now to walk dog earlier.

Timing for when the lanes aren’t to busy is tricky.

It looks like our basic council pool won’t reopen, so I’ve worked out when the fast lane at the fancy council pool slows down to medium speed.

We’re counting down the days to when the lido opens. Hopefully early April.

I've started to develop irritant dermatitis under my eyes where my goggles sit and across my back. It's never happened before and I've had to stop swimming while it heals. Any tips for avoiding it in the future?

I've recently increased my swim distance from 1km to a mile each swim and I'm really enjoying swimming but this rash on my face is so sore I cannot face making it worse so I've cancelled today's swim ☹️

New goggles? And maybe as it gets warmer switch to open water.

Guess where I've been today? 🥶

I get scared in open water and it's too cold for me. I need hard edged pools with a water temperature that does not hurt when I get in.
I've bought new goggles, I'll try them out on Sunday. I'm putting Betnovate on my skin to try to clear up the inflammation.

Hello all, I'm still swimming. I'm pleased that I'm doing more front crawl now and seem to have mastered the breathing so I don't get tired too quickly.

I am still pretty slow, I do about a mile in an hour.

Our little pool only has two lanes, so I'm always switching around to avoid people swimming either much faster or slower than me. Funnily enough when it's other women we can usually work around each other, but the men mostly just swim at their own speed and expect you to work around them. And they are so much bigger than me that I have to get out of their way or risk getting hurt. I would love a women only session!

I was in the lake for about 8 minutes!
Others are in for longer, but I don't last very long. At this time of year I go for the challenge, feeling invigorated and to have some wonderful time with a great group of like-minded, supportive, funny women.

Our pool seems quite civilised compared to many. There's there odd dick head, but mostly people (men and women) are courteous and follow lane etiquette.

I was looking for swimming advice and found this thread so went back to the first one and have read all 5 now. What a fantastic bunch you are, this must be the friendliest, most encouraging and kind thread I've ever come across on here. I have picked up so many tips and have learnt so much.

I just want to thank you all, I feel like I've come to the end of a great book, it's been amazing to travel from 2016 to now and see how much everyone has improved over the years.

I have started swimming weekly for the last few weeks and am slowly getting the hang of FC. I have never been a great swimmer but would always swim a leisurely head up breaststroke on holiday etc

I have been aiming for 30 lengths which I usually do in sets of 3 of breaststroke, back stroke and FC but I have been stopping after each length. I am off today to put all my newly acquired tips into practice and going to try to do 50m without stopping then 100 etc. I would love to aim for a total of 40 to make my first ever 1km.

I really hope this thread continues as it's my all time favourite!

What a lovely post @seasally

It sounds like you've made great progress. That's the thing with swimming, small improvements week by week can be really motivating.

I am off at lunch time for my 1K.

This thread is fab when it is busy! I'm another one who has read every post. Mentions of the Total Immersion technique way back encouraged me to go on one of their workshops & has transformed my front crawl! Life is getting in the way at the moment & I'm not swimming, but hope to get back to it soon. Thank you everyone!

I read them all too! Just started swimming again after nearly a year's gap and it's lovely to see a little bit of chat on the thread.

Still quite slow; still can't do front crawl. Found a really good anti-chlorine shampoo, though - it's called Premax . Slightly lemony.

My swim was lovely today. I had a small chat with a friend who only had a few more lengths to do. Then it was just be and another woman so we had one side of the lane each.

I alternate 4 lengths FC with and w/o a pull buoy. I don't feel particularly strong or fast (for me) at the moment. My goggles seem to have perished so I've got some new ones on the way.

I got to the pool today and it was so busy. There are 2 lanes and then open swimming in what would be the remaining 3 lanes. I couldn't see a way to get a straight length in around the swimmers in the open swim. They were all swimming up and down but some in 2s chatting and were all over the place. There were 2 swimmers in each of the lanes and they didn't look especially fast so I took the plunge and waited for a gap then joined in. I swear the guy in there speeded up! It's so intimidating, he just smashed past me and bombed off back down the return.
Fortunately there was a really lovely lady who was encouraging and welcoming and we ended up just the two of us swimming. I felt a bit more relaxed then and managed to clock my 1k! Woohoo! I've been on air all day! I did 200m Backstroke and 400m of FC and Breaststroke. It took me 55 minutes though so very very slow.

@sazza42 I also like the sound of the total immersion course but there's absolutely nothing near me. I am in the northwest and it sounds so amazing in the south with all the lidos and 50m pools.

@CharlotteBog I bought a pair of goggles off amazon randomly and they have been perfect. Hope I haven't tempted fate now! I wear contact lenses and haven't had any issues at all.
They are Speedo Unisex Biofuse Swimming Goggles.

@seasally Sarah Hall taught me. I did one of her workshops & had a follow up private lesson with her. Worth travelling for. She's near Bury. www.Swimmingly.co.uk

@seasally That's brilliant to know, I am in Cheshire but my mum lives in Bury so I will look her up. Thanks so much!

Oops I tagged myself! Sorry @sazza42

@sazza42 Did you go to her house and do it in the little pool?