Remembering: Pool Problems

I write this because many don't realize the pool problems we all face, and some of us experience more than others.

The old Selma on its final legs. It was hanging on by almost nothing. The thermostat didn't work for years. We kicked it on manually hoping that on cold days it would stay on. I remember days that the pool was below 75 degrees, so we'd do dry-land practice. As a swimmer I remember doing a workout where even the main set wasn't enough to make the water ok.

As a coach it was stressful making my 35 minute drive to the pool, and the knowledge that there was a very high chance the pool was not usable.

I remember when the lights stopped working and I had the AD have the tennis court lights turned around and I dragged work lights in the trunk of little car, so that we could practice when the sun went down.

I remember when we forgot to keep the water flowing from the main, and we lost about a foot of water in the pool.

I remember the pump that our pool guy made to feed chlorine into the system because none of the chlorinators worked anymore. We had trouble keeping chlorine up we put a buckets with holes in it with chlorine tablets to help keep up with high traffic days.

Our club had debt and no money for awhile, so we couldn't just go rent time at another pool. We just cancelled or did a dryland workout. When they finally closed the pool to finish the new pool, thank goodness we had financially rebounded to rent another pool.

I remember those days when I hear people complain that we have to move a workout to another pool that we use, or when we have to adjust because of an event. I think people wonder why I don't let that bother me as a coach. It's because what I had to work with before, and what we had to work through even when I was a swimmer. We shook it off and adjusted and made the best of it. Shoot, it was the old Selma Pool, it was always breaking down.