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Swimming Question of the Week - November 11, 2008

Posted by Barbara Hummel on Nov 11, 2008 10:00AM (1,760 views)

In a pool used primarily for Masters and age-group swim practice and for lap swimming (and not for lessons), what's the ideal water temp? Not talking meets here... but day-to-day practice time.

water temp

Responses

Peter Leib	Responded Nov 11, 2008 04:45PM "Ideal" is tough... for the younger age groupers and many of the older masters, 81°-82° is probably about right. 78°-80° for the higher yardage senior groups could work. Right now, we have everything going on in the same pool and run at 82°-83°... too warm for our more competitive athletes, too cold for our lessons...just about right for our younger team swimmers and masters.
Paul Reeder	Responded Nov 11, 2008 05:58PM We keep our pool between 81 and 82 all the time as well. The age-groupers are good with it because it is not too chili when you jump in and they don't work as hard as the HS team. The HS team would like it a little cooler (78), but that would be uncomfortable for our young kids. We also do lessons during the day and water temp is always a point of competition between pools doing lessons because the kids stand around inactive for so long.
mbswimchick	Responded Nov 11, 2008 06:46PM Our indoor pool at our high-end athletic club is 81* to 83* and we use it for lap swimmers, Masters Swim, and several types of Aqua classes, all for adults. Most of the time everyone is happy with it. We get the occassional senior doing rehab that thinks it is too cold, and very rarely (like once or twice a year) a lap swimmer will think it is too warm. The main reason it isn't even warmer is the cost of heating it.
sprinter	Responded Nov 12, 2008 07:15AM 27C for indoor, 24C for outdoor and sun.
Bob Hopkins	Responded Nov 12, 2008 09:59AM This is a a common issue for pool operators since differerent user groups have different needs. Typically usage ranges from infants, in water instructors and the elderly who are comfortable in 88 degree water to those who exercise strenuously and are comfortable in 80 degree water. A facility with only one pool has to go with a compromise temperature which is too cold for the inactive members and too warm for the active members and that is in the 82-84 range. The real solution is the addition of a second "therapeutic" or "teaching" pool at 88 degrees so that the "competition" pool can be kept at 80.
Cesar	Responded Nov 12, 2008 04:45PM 25-26º C, i think so, wich it's around 77-79º F.
David	Responded Nov 13, 2008 07:13AM King County Aquatic Center is kept at competition temperature (79 - 80) all the time and it is used by Masters, Age Group, and lap swimmers. Some of the kids think it is cold, but they only really complain when they are sitting still watching each others stroke or turns.
Glenn Mills	Responded Nov 13, 2008 02:07PM Hence just one reason King Aquatics has so many great swimmers. The program is geared toward performance in all aspects... water temp included. Water that doesn't SHOCK you when you jump in is going to be too hot to train in. Notice I said HOT not warm. During a great practice, you build up so much body heat, 79-80° f is about as warm as it can be, otherwise it's just TOO HOT. Did I mention I don't like to train in HOT WATER. :)
xyz	Responded Nov 13, 2008 04:10PM USA Swimming provides guidance at : http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/ViewMis... which calls for swim team and lap swimming to be between 78 and 82 degrees. My personal favorite for anyone in an organized training sesson (kids and adults) is 80 degrees. Additionally, swimmer comfort is also related to air temperature which should be +2 degrees from the water temp. So, in my perfect world, the water temp would be 80 degrees and the air temp 82 degrees.