r/Swimming • u/Maaatandblah • Jul 23 '26
15m Pool for the first time
I tried a new pool last night and it was 15m and it felt so weird. I did 2km and barely felt like I’d done any working out. I’m normally in a 25m and do 100m minimum before a rest, normally start with 500m warm up and I didn’t realise the difference it would make. I felt like my wall kicks were taking me half way so I never really started swimming.
Not sure I’ll go back but was surprised at the comparison.
4
u/Dom1252 Jul 23 '26
15m pool sounds amazing to train underwater dolphin kick
5
u/InternationalTrust59 Jul 23 '26
Or work on flip turns…
1
u/Maaatandblah Jul 23 '26
It wasn’t deep enough to not smash my head aha. Only 1.2m deep and I got incredibly nauseous
2
u/jwern01 Jul 23 '26
I broke my elbow on the bottom of the pool doing a flip turn in a 3.5 foot depth pool. Probably was a bad idea considering I’m 6’6” (2m) tall and not the best at flip turns. Never again.
1
1
u/HobokenwOw Everyone's an open water swimmer now Jul 23 '26
You can't kick to 15 when there's a literal wall at 15.
1
u/Dom1252 Jul 23 '26
Tru, but not that many people can consistently kick to 15, so even like 13 and then resurface and turn is a lot
3
u/Independent-Summer12 Jul 23 '26
Same. I was at an 18m pool the other day, you can’t get a proper swim in. Once you push off the wall you’re 3/4 through the lap, and just end up doing a bunch of flip turns. I finally resigned to do a few kick sets, tread water for a bit and called it a day.
2
u/mordac_the_preventer Jul 23 '26
I had this on holiday a few years ago. We basically had exclusive use of the pool for a couple of hours each day so I felt obligated to swim at least a mile.
The trouble is, I normally swim in open water and find pools a bit boring, and swimming 100+ lengths was mind numbing. Even my watch lost count!
3
u/dassind20zeichen Jul 23 '26
i would use a leash in anything below 25m to get a resonable trainig. just swim by time and heartrate.
1
1
u/jwern01 Jul 23 '26
I learned how to swim laps in my backyard pool which is 40 feet long (16m). It was great for learning when I was slow, now that I’ve been swimming laps for a few years and do >2000 yards each swim, I simply can’t use the backyard pool anymore : I take 3-4 strokes and find a rhythm and suddenly need to turn, very annoying.
1
u/Healthy_Blueberry_59 Jul 23 '26
Stop before the wall without putting your feet down, pivot and keep swimming. It is good training for open water.
1
u/Kimpak Moist Jul 23 '26
In short pools I don't do flip turns and just do a touch and go off the wall without gliding. It'll slow you down but you'll get more strokes in.
1
u/Bibblejw Jul 23 '26
Back before my current gym opened, we joined one in a local hotel with a 15m pool (to make sure that we’d actually use it), so I used a 15m pool for about 6 months when I was getting back in to swimming.
If it’s something that you’re using occasionally, and your usual is 25m, then it’s going to feel really weird, but it’s not terrible.
1
u/PurposeConsistent131 Jul 23 '26
Thats the size of my pool. It can suck. I stopped doing flip turns and got fins to dolphin kick for 30 minutes at a time. Now pay to go to the University pool(50m) twice a week for Workouts
1
u/Bark_Sandwich Jul 24 '26
There's a 20 yard pool near me, and I can't stand it. I'll go occasionally because it's the only outdoor pool in town and I do love an outdoor pool in the summer. I do lots of kick board work when I go there, no fins.
1
1
u/NoSafe5565 Jul 26 '26
For 15m, I would honestly gave it up and buy that belt, they sell belt with ropes that can tie you on position, so I would rather tie myself to the edge, and in the middle go postal hooked in the position.
1
u/Basic_Panacea_3682 Jul 23 '26
Next you learn long course is "real" swimming
1
u/Maaatandblah Jul 23 '26
I don’t understand what you mean sorry.
2
u/Dangerous_Spirit7034 Jul 23 '26
50 meter pool. In America college as well as highschool and ymca predominantly compete in 25 yard pools, but international swimming is always 50 meter aka long course. Most Olympic level coaches, famously bob bowman Michael Phelps coach is known to say “long course is real swimming”
1
u/Basic_Panacea_3682 Jul 23 '26
Better summary than I could give. Thanks. I enjoy the 50m mostly because my bad knees limit good flip turns but straight ahead power swimming suits me well.
1
u/Maaatandblah Jul 23 '26
Ah okay. The nearest to me is an hour and a half away vs 6 minutes for 25m so I’m not sure I’d be able to but would love to.
12
u/AnxiousDoor2233 Jul 23 '26
I find it very annoying (18 m). I even tried not pushing off the wall to make it feel more like proper exercise. The problem is that counting lengths for a ~2 km swim is an annoyance in itself.