Thursday, August 9, 2012

Peeing in the Pool

It's a swim blog. A discussion of urine was inevitable.

This week Slate.Com ran an article with the headline "Do Olympic Swimmers ever Pee in the Pool." The answer, of course, is yes.  But it is very hard to pee while swimming, so it is done at rest. Apparently some also pee on deck.

The article ends with a mention of the chemical that can be added to pools to turn pee bright colors.  I assert that such a chemical is an urban legend, propagated to keep young kids from peeing in the pool. I challenge folks to prove otherwise.

And I will leave you with my thoughts on peeing in wetsuits... There are two types of people... those who pee in their wetsuit and those who lie about it.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Blue Angels

This weekend was Seafair in Seattle.  That means hotter than average temperatures (yes, this is statistically the weekend least likely to rain) and a performance by the Blue Angels. Their show was scheduled for 1:30 each day of the weekend, and the majority of Seattle takes to the water to watch. So I had to schedule my swims carefully.

Saturday I was at the lake around 11:30. It wasn't hard to park, there were still 10 or so spaces left in the lot.  But the park already felt crowded, and there were tons of boats out.  I did a half mile (I had food poisoning this week, so hadn't worked out and really needed to take it easy). The water was choppy from the boat wake. I felt like I was in the ocean, not the lake.  And the water was cloudy.  Not a bad swim, but I spent a lot of time with my head up looking out for motor boats.

Sunday I got to the lake earlier-- about 9:30.  The water was flatter and clearer.  Again I only did a half mile-- this time because I had a time deadline.  But it was good to get in the swim before things got chaotic.

I swam with the swim saftey device on my Saturday but not on Sunday. I broke the valve a few weeks ago, and in repairing it, ended up taking it out all together. Now it doesn't stay put.  I'm going to look into trading it in for a new one. I've had it for less than a year.