Swimming

According to this:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/construction_and_property/article7038537.ece

It's being redeveloped at the moment, don't know if this is true.

Sell your soul?

You can't AFAIK. Not open to the public.

Hmmm thanks. Figures. I've worked within spitting distance of that building for nigh on 10 ten years and had never heard of it despite repeated attempts to find a decent pool I could use at lunch times. Not entirely sure how not mentioning a private pool which isn't open to the public makes the thread's knowledge of pools "ropey at best". I've always quite fancied having a go at polo as it happens. Despite m4dm4x coming across as a bit of a tw4t there.

Yeah parliment hill - Gospel Oak is an awesome pool.
I went there 2 weeks ago, I forgot to give it a write up.
60x28 metres makes it wider than most London pools are long. I went on a hot evening and the pool was about 22degrees. Probably around the minimum I would comfortably swim in without a wet suit for any prolonged period of time. There were some pretty serious tri athletes in wet suits using it. It has recently been refurbished and has a lovely metallic bottom which helps to hold the heat in.

It is a massive pool and well worth visiting on a summers morning or evening. the only problem is the area is full of thieves. if you leave your bike locked outside I would say there is a 15-20% chance of it not being there when you come out. This is from experience so don't flame me on this one!

yawn.
played 'polo for years at school.

yesterday- first test of 1.5km swim at 'Race Pace', well slightly slower- I'd been putting off swimming due to a cut that wouldn't heal and I hate swimming with plasters.
First two laps- Shoulder subluxed- no biggie, happens often, popped right back in, got on with it.
Just over 20mins! (somewhere around 22 I guess) fucking chuffed.
Got out, felt great, as if I hadn't been swimming at all!

I have no problem with other swimmers, just in my own lack of confidence to go for the pass..

So what sort of mallets do you use for water polo?

Red Mallets.

*golf clap.

*golf clap.

Often called a ripple...

I have a mate of min who plays water polo. Shoulders on him are massive. He is a big powerful lad.

He has given up polo, because he says its ..

'arder than rugby Col, and the cunts bite you underwater, and kick you in the bollocks'

some weeks he is covered in scratches. you have been warned. (I hear the girls are even worse)

Click to see story about an idiot swimmer...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-10840475

Once a tool, always a tool, just not one of those useful ones....

who's was the little fixie skidder with polka dot rims and risers outside cally pool tonight? quite a few first timers tonight. anyone from here? fun session, breaststroke main set.

400 free
300 free pull
200 free kick
100 free drill

4 x 100s fly (50 alternating one armed one length left then right, then 50 glide)30 secs rest between 100s.
12 x 25 backstroke sprints. 20 secs rest between.

12 x 100 breast stroke. odd 100s building up, even hundreds decreasing stroke count.
300 free pull with paddles. 20 secs rest between 100s.

10 x 50 "fun size" medley all kick (half a length fly, half, back, half, breast and half free)

and that is all. i haz reeses and lemon tea now.

I got in the lido at london fields at 6:30am the other day. The first time I've been in a pool in about 15 years. Christ, it shows...

Toying with lessons as I'd love to take it up seriously. I could do about a half a length of very sloppy front crawl or two lengths of fairly pacey backstroke (legs only, no arms) before cramp set in (shoulders - front crawl, calfs - backstroke).

On the plus side I didn't drown. Every cloud.

i know that feeling! but amazing how quickly you improve. last swam a few weeks ago and managed a km, but with about 5 breaks, found it a challenge. swam 4 lengths today and felt like i didn't want to do any more. went on to do another 16, minute break and 20 more, km done. felt pretty easy once i got going and into a rythm. it's a mental thing with me i think. still rubbish at crawl though.

does anyone have one of those underwater i-pod covers? do they work? reckon if i could listen to music or even an audio book i could swim much longer.

nice work jemjah and cyoa. stick with it man, it comes back so quickly. had a nice hour at london fields yesterday with my new hand paddles. it was very quiet between 4 and 5. only a couple of other people in the big wide lane. lovely. bit achey after an hour of mostly front crawl.

i'd like to mix it up with some more backstroke but i i don't trust myself doing backstroke in public sessions. my sense of direction is a bit wayward... especially in an outdoor pool you don't have the ceiling to reference where you are in the lane. can make for some painful and embarassing headbangs.

i'm on a mission to improve my butterfly at the moment. last week's thursday at cally was a butterfly set and i struggled with it. it was a brute though. the meat of the main set was:

8x25m fly with 10 secs rest
4x50m fly with 15 secs rest
2x100m fly with 20 secs rest
1x200m fly

50 easy between each and then repeat the whole thing. I was purple by halfway though the second time round. i can't seem to get the timing of the kick quite right. so frustrating.

does anyone have one of those underwater i-pod covers? do they work? reckon if i could listen to music or even an audio book i could swim much longer.

haven't tried one. i thought it might help too but i'm not so sure now. turns out i don't like running with music on so i suspect swimming might be similar. I like to concentrate on what i'm doing rather than zone-out too.

i'm finding the biggest motivator is swimming with other people. i can get bored after 20 minutes on my own and no clear goal but if i'm following a set or in a coached session i don't want to to get out after an hour and a half.

you can always sing to yourself underwater too. that's kind of fun.

That is a serious session.
I am moving offices to Regents Park area next week and am pleased to see the public baths at Marshall Street W1 have just reopened after a massive refurb.

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/active/marshallstreet/

Anyone been there yet? I shall write up my experiences in the next few weeks

That is a serious session.
I am moving offices to Regents Park area next week and am pleased to see the public baths at Marshall Street W1 have just reopened after a massive refurb.

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/active/marshallstreet/

Anyone been there yet? I shall write up my experiences in the next few weeks

Ah it's all relative dude. That lot was only about 40 minutes of a 90 minute session. I was in a lane with a lady in her 50s and a 14 year old girl both setting a pretty brisk pace. Felt quite pathetic splashing about with my red-faced half-remembered schoolboy butterfly at the back. Just about got through it though.

Yep saw that too. Never been myself. Looking forward to hearing your findings.

who was that be-goggled fixé rider at london fields lido last night? black condor pista, breast stoke in the middle lane. come on, own up. you seemed familiar. kizu?

now the summer's fading and schools are back the lido's blissfully quiet. absolutely lovely to be swimming outdoors in a heated, near empty pool, under a moody sky and stiff breeze. love it.

conversely, cally masters is now very busy. which is no bad thing either. lot more social than it was, met some nice peeps the last couple of weeks. am struggling for pace at the moment though. had to join the back of the queue in the "lower middle" lane last week as i genuinely thought i was going to spew again (we were doing freestyle sprints with fins and paddles - it's like swimming and lifting weights at the same time). eugh.

I just dont "get" swimming, it seems to be something that my body just doesn't want to do. I have spent years trying to figure out how to tread water, looked up various techniques but forget it. I just sink. Front crawl kills me after a few strokes, I cant keep my head out fo the water at all.

After some perseverence I managed to get a reasonable breast stroke going on where I could do lengths of a pool without drowning.

I went to the dorset coast this weekend and tried to swim in the sea as people have raved at me at how the seawater is easier to float in. But fuck me, it just didnt work.Waves smashing over head made it impossible to breathe, and of course I can only swim 10-15 metres at a time in ideal conditions anyway.

I went to a place called durdle door:

Was absolutely stunning. Saw loads of average folk, including a gang of chic fixie skidder types who had carried their bikes right up the massive hill and down precarious steps to the beach and were all jumping right into the cold deep water and swimming all the way to and around the door.

It looked fucking amazing, and I was in awe and extreme envy. I just dont get how the ability to swim so well is totally normal and average, while for people like me it seems totally superhuman.

Same boat.
I'm getting some water-wings.

now the summer's fading and schools are back the lido's blissfully quiet. absolutely lovely to be swimming outdoors in a heated, near empty pool, under a moody sky and stiff breeze. love it.

OK, its not out doors, but there was all but 6 people at Brixton Rec this morning. I had to share a lane with ONE, yep, 1 other person - who incidentally had a lovely bum.

Not a terrible start to my day at all.

^ tacit no swim perv agreement fail.

Is that the implicit no perving whilst swimming agreement?

Why? You're in a boat.

Boats can SINK.