The Ng Swimming Club

[Sentio]

Welcome to the NG swimming club!

This is a place where any standard of swimmer can join and discuss this subject (details are given below). You can be a complete novice or a national champion to join, the only requirement is that you want to talk about swimming, and ideally that you do swim on a fairly regular basis. In the case of complete novices then a willingness to learn how to swim is required- this is the right place to come if you want tips on how to learn.

The various purposes of this club are:

1) To discuss swimming (obviously) whether it be recreational, competetive or simply an alternative means of getting fit. This may include any competitions you may be taking part in for school or a club etc.

2) In a kind of spin off from the NG gym it would be good to discuss swim sets and how you use this sport to stay fit. I'm thinking about including a weekly table of distances swum as a part of this. One of my biggest aims for this club is to promote fitness for those who don't like lifting weights etc. like myself. Hopefully a bit of a competetive spirit on who can swim the most in a week will help keep everyone get fit and improve your swimming skills over time. I'm also open to discussion about times that you can achieve over any distance. Again having some targets would be a nice way to encourage people.

3) As this is a fairly narrow topic I've decided to include any other swimming realted sports. This includes things like water polo (which I play myself) life guarding (which I used to do over the summer) and anything else you can come up with. I don't want to stray too far from the original topic so please keep it within reason. Having said that I may allow talk of things like diving, and possibly surfing if there is enough interest, and possibly mould this into more of a water sports club over time. Please try and keep it to swimming as much as possible though.

4) My main objective for this club is to help those who are not strong swimmers . I've had some experience of teaching people how to swim in the past, and hopefully there will be some strong swimmers joiing who can help. Should someone want tips on how to improve their stroke, or even how to learn from scratch, then this is the place to come. Obviously it is harder to teach over the internet as it is in person, but I want to do my best in helping my fellow NG users. Should you have a request for help then please include AS MUCH DETAIL AS POSSIBLE about what you want to learn and what standard you are at at the moment. Also feel free to PM me if you don't want to post about it in here for any reason.

5) I am also open to discussion about international competition (World Championships, Olympics etc.) although my own interest in this is limited. Uk swimmers are pretty useless compared to the Aussies and the Americans, so it has never really grabbed my interest. For those who do support the sport though feel free to discuss the results and times of the world's elite.

Club Rules:

1) All the obvious rules about no spamming etc. DO NOT REPLY TO SPAMMERS under any circumstances. The Mods do not appreciate it- just wait for one of them to come by and delete the offending posts.

2) Do not come here to be critical of swimming or those who swim. This is a place for those who enjoy the sport/related sports, not those who hate it. It is of course allowed to discuss bad swimming experiences etc. but no abuse towards the sport in any way please.

3) Try and stay on topic! I realise I've left the topic as wide as possible, but that doesn't mean you can talk about just anything here. A general rule of thumb is that if swimming/a pool is involved then discussion is welcome here. What I do not want to see is discussion of things like 'Adult Swim'- go to their club if you want to discuss that.

Ok, that is everything I can think of! Hopefully this club will gain some popularity and some regular members...

Note to Mods - In setting up this club I first asked the Pre Club Crew, and also tried to follow the new club guidelines set out in Newgrundling's Thread. Hopefully there is nothing here you can object to, and a search of past topics suggests no previous club of this type. Should you have any problems regarding this topic feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to rectify them.

[Pingu]

I'm fucking joining. My reasons:

I work as a lifeguard and Swimming Instructor, and have been doing so for over 2 years.

I'll be able to help out with questions on stroke technique, corrections, etc.

^_^

just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

[Metal-Dart]

Help, Help!

I'm drowning..

_______\o/________

[Pingu]

At 11/14/06 06:20 PM, Phable wrote: I'm drowning..

Did you know that in 2000, there were 3,482 unintentional drownings in the United States, an average of nine people per day.

You could be next...

[Metal-Dart]

At 11/14/06 06:22 PM, Peregrinus wrote: You could be next...

Doubt it, despite the fact i've been swimming all my life!
Mind if I join?

[Sentio]

At 11/14/06 06:12 PM, Peregrinus wrote: I'm fucking joining. My reasons:

I work as a lifeguard and Swimming Instructor, and have been doing so for over 2 years.

I'll be able to help out with questions on stroke technique, corrections, etc.

Huzzah, a member! I was beginning to think this was going to sink into oblivion! Better yet you're just the kind of person this club needs- it sounds like you have more experience as far as teaching goes than I do as I've only done it as a favour to people who've asked me.

Ever had anything interesting happen while lifeguarding? In my time doing it I never had anything interesting, although one kid did get their leg stuck behind the steps- took 4 of us to get her free. Fortunately all she had was a bit of bruising- no need to call the old first aid skills into action.

Also had some psycho kid try and blow up the gas tanks at the back of the building- guess that's what you get for working in a bad area!

Come on people, the more the merrier!

just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Hehe, I think we'll make that our motto :D

[Sentio]

At 11/14/06 06:23 PM, Phable wrote:

At 11/14/06 06:22 PM, Peregrinus wrote: You could be next...

Doubt it, despite the fact i've been swimming all my life!
Mind if I join?

Apologies for the double post- there was only the one response when I wrote my previous comment. Of course you are more than welcome to join!

2 whole members- keep them coming!

[Pingu]

At 11/14/06 06:23 PM, Phable wrote:

At 11/14/06 06:22 PM, Peregrinus wrote: You could be next...

Doubt it, despite the fact i've been swimming all my life!
Mind if I join?

I know of a lifeguard who was drowned during a rescue. He got the victim close enough to shore for bystanders to get him out, then the LG was swept off by riptide. They found his body 3 days later.

Anyone can drown.

Asides from that, I almost took you for a non-interested spammer. You're lucky.

At 11/14/06 06:23 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Ever had anything interesting happen while lifeguarding?

1 seizure, 2 removals, 1 heart attack, countless small cuts and bleeding noses...

Also had some psycho kid try and blow up the gas tanks at the back of the building- guess that's what you get for working in a bad area!

I had some kids lighting firecrackers and fireworks right next to the gas tank used to refuel the rescue boat (this was summer 05)

just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Hehe, I think we'll make that our motto :D

Copyright Disney-Pixar "Finding Nemo"...

[Sentio]

At 11/14/06 06:35 PM, Peregrinus wrote:

At 11/14/06 06:23 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Ever had anything interesting happen while lifeguarding?

1 seizure, 2 removals, 1 heart attack, countless small cuts and bleeding noses...

Wow, far more interesting than me then, although I guess beach lifeguards have a lot more people to cover than us lowly pool lifeguards.

Also had some psycho kid try and blow up the gas tanks at the back of the building- guess that's what you get for working in a bad area!

I had some kids lighting firecrackers and fireworks right next to the gas tank used to refuel the rescue boat (this was summer 05)

Some people really are idiots.

just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Hehe, I think we'll make that our motto :D

Copyright Disney-Pixar "Finding Nemo"...

Hehe, an unofficial motto then- anyway if you don't tell them I won't ;)

Due to your experience I'd like to invite you to become a kind of joint leader of this club- after all you are one of the few NG users I have bumped into before courtesy of the EGB and I know you to be a good and sensible poster. I don't really want to worry about 'ranks' in this club as I don't feel it is necessary, but some help would certainly be appreciated in keeping it running.

[Pingu]

At 11/14/06 06:44 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Wow, far more interesting than me then, although I guess beach lifeguards have a lot more people to cover than us lowly pool lifeguards.

Actually, I worked outside for 1 summer only (2005). I've been an indoor guard since 2004. And everything but the seizure was at the indoor pool (it's a full complex, with 3 hockey rinks and fitness centre). Most of our situations come to us via hockey (old guys with heart attacks, or spinals due to hard checks into the boards)

Some people really are idiots.

It was fun to watch them sit oblivious while the camp coordinator walked up behind them and gave them shit.

Hehe, an unofficial motto then- anyway if you don't tell them I won't ;)

Deal

Due to your experience I'd like to invite you to become a kind of joint leader of this club

It would be an honor.

now I gotta find space in my sig...

[Sentio]

At 11/14/06 07:04 PM, Peregrinus wrote:

Actually, I worked outside for 1 summer only (2005). I've been an indoor guard since 2004. And everything but the seizure was at the indoor pool (it's a full complex, with 3 hockey rinks and fitness centre). Most of our situations come to us via hockey (old guys with heart attacks, or spinals due to hard checks into the boards)

Ah, I was guessing at the beach lifeguard job from your previous post, but as it is where you work sounds a lot larger than where I did. The pool I worked at was a small one in the local area that had little more than the pool itself and a small gym (by small I am talking 10-20 machines- having lived in the US for the last three months their idea of small would probably be 100+!). Sometimes I wanted something to happen as it was just so dull staring at the water all day- much of the time it was empty, or had one or two people cruising up and down. Having said that I've never been one to complain about getting paid to do nothing!

It would be an honor.

now I gotta find space in my sig...

Great! All we need now is more members... thanks for squeezing it into your sig- hopefully that should help get the word out. I feel this club can be a real success if enough people get to know about it.

[Pingu]

At 11/14/06 08:59 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Sometimes I wanted something to happen as it was just so dull staring at the water all day- much of the time it was empty, or had one or two people cruising up and down.

Sounds like typical AquaFitness classes to me...fat people bouncing in place to music...

Having said that I've never been one to complain about getting paid to do nothing!

Me neither :)

And as much as I want there to be action, the fact that no one is drowning means that I'm doing my job pretty damn well. I'm proud of that.

[Sentio]

At 11/14/06 09:06 PM, Peregrinus wrote:

Sounds like typical AquaFitness classes to me...fat people bouncing in place to music...

The aqua fitness sessions always were terrible, although for every 15 fat people there was usually 1 of the girls from the local college. I found being on duty during the scuba diving training sessions worse (we had them once every week). A bunch of people doing nothing underwater in a pool is bad enough, but as we can't tell when they are in trouble we were actually asked NOT to help if there was a problem. It made being there seem rather pointless.

The most entertaining activities were the air crew training sessions that took place at 5:30 in the morning, before the pool opened to the public (I lived very near to Gatwick airport in the UK). Ignoring the early start (which you get used to after a while) it was always hilarious to see them all struggling with life jackets, and trying to get into the giant raft. Having said that it was also the scariest time to be on duty- some of them were completely unable to swim and it left you sitting on edge the whole time as you were convinced they were going to drown.

Good times!

And as much as I want there to be action, the fact that no one is drowning means that I'm doing my job pretty damn well. I'm proud of that.

That is a really good attitude towards it. There is a real sense of satisfaction knowing that you are there to save peoples lives, even if you don't ever actually do so.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Pingu]

At 11/15/06 11:36 AM, Donthurtme wrote: The aqua fitness sessions always were terrible, although for every 15 fat people there was usually 1 of the girls from the local college.

That's always a nice change. I had a whole bunch of them come in at once.

I found being on duty during the scuba diving training sessions worse (we had them once every week). A bunch of people doing nothing underwater in a pool is bad enough, but as we can't tell when they are in trouble we were actually asked NOT to help if there was a problem. It made being there seem rather pointless.

I know EXACTLY how you feel. One of the other guards had to rescue a diver in our pool who panicked and went crazy.

What usually helps is when theres a big plume of oxygen released from their tank. Also, knowing a bit about how scuba divers communicate and interact underwater helps.

My dad was diving once, at a place with a cave. A diver was lost, and they formed a search party. They found the lost diver's body. Turns out that although the cave was relatively open, the diver kicked up silt, and panicked. He forgot to look at his bubbles to determine which way was up, and also didn't just follow the cave wall till the exit (the cave was more of a cut out in a wall, think baseball dugout with one open side, and 3 walls).

The most entertaining activities were the air crew training sessions that took place at 5:30 in the morning, before the pool opened to the public.

We had kayakers for a while. What's cool is that the pool is a wave pool, so we turned on the waves and watched them frolic.

Good times!

Indeed

That is a really good attitude towards it. There is a real sense of satisfaction knowing that you are there to save peoples lives, even if you don't ever actually do so.

The first job of a good lifeguard is prevention.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thank you ^_^

So hopefully people will come and ask swimming questions...

Actually, I have one for you:

Do you have any interesting ways of teaching the "Butterfly"? They cut it recently from Canada's swim program (thank god. I hate it so much), but I still get requests from privately booked lessons to teach Butterfly.

[Sentio]

At 11/15/06 12:08 PM, Peregrinus wrote:

I know EXACTLY how you feel. One of the other guards had to rescue a diver in our pool who panicked and went crazy.

You're pool gets all the action it seems! Thankfully we never had any incidents during those sessions.

What usually helps is when theres a big plume of oxygen released from their tank. Also, knowing a bit about how scuba divers communicate and interact underwater helps.

Scuba diving is something I've wanted to do for a along time, but never had the opportunity. As a biology student (or for the time being at least a biology researcher) the idea of seeing the huge array of life underwater has always fascinated me. I'm sure I'll get there one day. I have some knowledge of how they communicate etc. but without that plume of oxygen I imagine it's pretty much impossible to tell when there is a problem when viewed from the surface.

My dad was diving once, at a place with a cave. A diver was lost, and they formed a search party. They found the lost diver's body. Turns out that although the cave was relatively open, the diver kicked up silt, and panicked. He forgot to look at his bubbles to determine which way was up, and also didn't just follow the cave wall till the exit (the cave was more of a cut out in a wall, think baseball dugout with one open side, and 3 walls).

Yeah, it's surprising how often it's the most experienced swimmers who drown- I guess it is because they are over confident. There was a case in the UK that I heard of last Summer where three kids were out swimming in the sea, all very strong swimmers, and yet two of them were drowned by the strong under currents. In fact that is a common occurance around the coasts of the UK

We had kayakers for a while. What's cool is that the pool is a wave pool, so we turned on the waves and watched them frolic.

No wave pool for us, or kayaks for that matter- it just wasn't big enough.

Thank you ^_^

So hopefully people will come and ask swimming questions...

Yeah, I hope so! I'm trying to post in this topic when it is drifting towards the bottom of the page so that it stays near the top as much as possible, but as yet it isn't getting much attention. Come on people, there must be some swimmers out there somewhere!

Actually, I have one for you:

Do you have any interesting ways of teaching the "Butterfly"? They cut it recently from Canada's swim program (thank god. I hate it so much), but I still get requests from privately booked lessons to teach Butterfly.

Wow, throw me in at the deepend! I can't say I've ever had to teach butterfly, which is just as well as it is far from my strongest stroke. Having said that it was always my secret weapon when it came to swimming medleys as no matter how bad I was everyone else was worse- a nice big lead after the first lengths (backstroke is easily my best stroke) always gave me time to recover a bit on the breaststroke and then really go for it on the freestyle.

Anyway, to your question. I may not have taught it myself, but I did put up with others trying to teach me for many years during my childhood. The best way to do it was always the traditional arms only/legs only method, although butterfly leg kick on it's own is hard work! It's a strange stroke in that I found it very reliant on pure power and less on technique, and as such it is very hard to learn when you are younger as you simply don't have the strength to keep pulling your arms out of the water. Maybe that was just me though. I really can't think of any tricks to learning it- it's just plain hard. Once they've cracked that it is down to synchronising it, which is even harder. They always say two leg kicks for every arm pull, though timing it right is tricky.

The way I eventually cracked it (in my mid to late teens well after I had quit my swimming club) was by using the leg kick a lot for the starts in freestyle and backstroke. After a long time of doing that it felt natural, and as such it was much easier to put the arms in at the same time.

[Git]

Sure, I'll join.

I swim most Wednesdays and do as many lengths as I can, I mainly use breast-stroke for it, I'm not a novice swimmer as such in swimming experience, just in knowledge of the subject ;)

I think the thing I enjoy most about swimming is testing my bodies limits, I love it....pushing yourself is just awesome. Oh, and the competition when my friend goes with me, heh. Long arms and legs ftw. xD

[Pingu]

At 11/15/06 12:34 PM, Donthurtme wrote: The way I eventually cracked it (in my mid to late teens well after I had quit my swimming club) was by using the leg kick a lot for the starts in freestyle and backstroke. After a long time of doing that it felt natural, and as such it was much easier to put the arms in at the same time.

That makes sense. I've heard of using scuba flippers to help train (added propulsion in legs).

I just hate Butterfly, cause every time I do it, I look like a floppy dying fish...

At 11/15/06 01:25 PM, I-Git-I wrote: Sure, I'll join.

:D New member! Welcome!

[Sentio]

At 11/15/06 01:25 PM, I-Git-I wrote: Sure, I'll join.

Welcome to the club!

I swim most Wednesdays and do as many lengths as I can, I mainly use breast-stroke for it, I'm not a novice swimmer as such in swimming experience, just in knowledge of the subject ;)

Excellent- swimming once a week is a great way to stay fit. How far would you say you normally swim? I find that swimming breastroke is easier, but I tend to do freestyle more to get the old heart racing. I used to use a pattern of freestyle, backstroke, breastroke when swimming as it practised the three main strokes, and the breastroke length acted as a good rest after two hard crawl lengths. Now I just go with freestyle and see how long I last.

I think the thing I enjoy most about swimming is testing my bodies limits, I love it....pushing yourself is just awesome. Oh, and the competition when my friend goes with me, heh. Long arms and legs ftw. xD

Yeah, I enjoy doing that as well. It is very much an alternative to working out in a gym for me. Before every session I try and set a target of a certain number of lengths, and I'm always trying to chip away at my times to push myself harder. Taking a friend is a great way to motivate and push yourself that bit harder. Sadly I don't have anyone I can swim with here as I've not lived here long, but I usually pick another swimmer of about my standard to try and keep up with. Long legs and arms are indeed the secret to success! :D

At 11/15/06 01:48 PM, Peregrinus wrote:
That makes sense. I've heard of using scuba flippers to help train (added propulsion in legs).

Yeah, I've seen them used to good effect, although I've never used them myself. When you're first getting the hang of the legs you really don't get much propulsion so a bit of help would probably make it a lot easier.

I just hate Butterfly, cause every time I do it, I look like a floppy dying fish...

I think everyone looks like a floppy dying fish when swimming butterfly...

[Jawa-Crossing]

Ill join because of the fact that you have a lifeguard and i tend to get in the water drunk a lot.

o_o

Go figure.

[Lebastic]

Hey ill join
im a regular swimmer + 2 times silver medal 50 meters crawl(about 30 seconds) and gold medal in 400 meters crawl(probably 7 minutes?) and i am currently ranked 4th in Lebanon all swimming kinds

found the club via Peregrinus sig (thank you Peregrinus)

[Git]

At 11/15/06 02:06 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Welcome to the club!

Thanks :D

Excellent- swimming once a week is a great way to stay fit. How far would you say you normally swim? I find that swimming breastroke is easier, but I tend to do freestyle more to get the old heart racing.

I assume the pool is a standard sized pool, I'm not sure. I set myself a target of 40 lengths three weeks ago (I think >.<) and managed that easily enough using a combination of crawl and breastroke. Then a week after I set myself 50 and managed that using breastroke (front crawl sure does knacker you out quickly :) ). Now recently I've been setting myself 80 lengths and managed it fine, with 85 last week and 85 today. Time is just a restraint at the moment I think, I'm going to try and increase my speed.

Long legs and arms are indeed the secret to success! :D

My friend has really short legs and arms compared to me. I have like one stroke to his three (plus he doesn't have alot of arm power ;) ).

Lets see how badly I pissed the quoting up - I'm so not used to this type of quoting.

[Sentio]

Wow, go to lunch for half an hour and find two new members on my return!!

At 11/15/06 02:08 PM, Jawa-Crossing wrote: Ill join because of the fact that you have a lifeguard and i tend to get in the water drunk a lot.

o_o

Go figure.

Welcome to the club! Although I suggest swimming whilst drunk is not a good idea...

At 11/15/06 02:24 PM, TheLebanese wrote: Hey ill join
im a regular swimmer + 2 times silver medal 50 meters crawl(about 30 seconds) and gold medal in 400 meters crawl(probably 7 minutes?) and i am currently ranked 4th in Lebanon all swimming kinds

found the club via Peregrinus sig (thank you Peregrinus)

Wow, that is pretty impressive! You're certainly a good deal better than I am- my best 50m times are around the 40 second mark, and I have no idea about 400 meters! Welcome to the club!

At 11/15/06 02:36 PM, I-Git-I wrote:

I assume the pool is a standard sized pool, I'm not sure. I set myself a target of 40 lengths three weeks ago (I think >.<) and managed that easily enough using a combination of crawl and breastroke. Then a week after I set myself 50 and managed that using breastroke (front crawl sure does knacker you out quickly :) ). Now recently I've been setting myself 80 lengths and managed it fine, with 85 last week and 85 today. Time is just a restraint at the moment I think, I'm going to try and increase my speed.

A standard pool would be either 25m or 50m. Either way it seems you are swimming good distances and it's always nice to see an improvement when you go that bit further. Time is my biggest issue as well at the moment- I have no time to swim on weekdays and only limited time at weekends so when I get the chance I tend to really go for it.

Long legs and arms are indeed the secret to success! :D

My friend has really short legs and arms compared to me. I have like one stroke to his three (plus he doesn't have alot of arm power ;) ).

That is a big advantage- really stretching and gliding more is a great way to speed up and also requires much less energy. Obviously strength is a big factor too, and I've also found the size of your hands and feet can make a difference. Sadly my small hands just can't get the same pull as some of my team-mates at my water polo club at university.

Lets see how badly I pissed the quoting up - I'm so not used to this type of quoting.

Seems fine to me!

[Lebastic]

At 11/15/06 03:01 PM, Donthurtme wrote: Wow, that is pretty impressive! You're certainly a good deal better than I am- my best 50m times are around the 40 second mark, and I have no idea about 400 meters! Welcome to the club!

thank you i wonder what you would say about Lebanon s first? hes gonna be a legend some day im sure .but now hes only my freind and classmate... Plus im only that good with crawl because of hand power sure i got well built feet but not as much as everybody else and my back is awfully weak

[Sidorio]

I'll join but I don't swim so much anymore since an old guy had a go at me for getting changed in a public pools changing room. He said it was perversive and that everybody should just put on their clothes over their wet trunks to stop public nudity. Even though changing rooms aren't public places. He was scary and weird.

[Sentio]

At 11/15/06 03:16 PM, Sidorio wrote: I'll join but I don't swim so much anymore since an old guy had a go at me for getting changed in a public pools changing room. He said it was perversive and that everybody should just put on their clothes over their wet trunks to stop public nudity. Even though changing rooms aren't public places. He was scary and weird.

He sounds like a complete nutcase to me. It's a shame that it put you off going down to the pool, best just to ignore him if you ask me. Anyway, what's wrong with a bit of public nudity? ;)

Welcome to the club anyway- I hope we can encourage you to get back to swimming.

[Sirockalot]

Nice job setting this club up. I'll join. I'm an ok swimmer, I have a pool in my house, I am on a diving team, and I play some waterpolo, but this year I quit.

[Sentio]

At 11/15/06 05:37 PM, Sirockalot wrote: Nice job setting this club up. I'll join. I'm an ok swimmer, I have a pool in my house, I am on a diving team, and I play some waterpolo, but this year I quit.

Thanks for checking it out for me in the pre crew club- it was appreciated. I hope I can make a real success of this, and I'll try and open up some subjects of discussion when there are a few more members (although you make the list up to 7 so we're not doing badly). Welcome to the club!

It sounds like you do a good range of water sports there- I'd give anything for a pool in my house, but sadly it is a) too expensive, and b) the weather in the UK doesn't exactly make it worthwhile.

How long have you been playing water polo for, and why did you give up? I'm off the team this year as I'm on placement here in Denver, but last season I played for my university side in the UK, and I love the sport. I've been fortunate not to pick up any nasty injuries yet- it does get a bit vicious (understatement!!).

Diving on the other hand is a sport I have never tried and never will do either thanks to being rather severely scared of heights. I doubt I could even climb the ladder up to the board, let alone jump off it.

[Papo]

I want to join.

[Sentio]

At 11/15/06 06:06 PM, StrangeBoy wrote: I want to join.

I had a quick scan through your posts and didn't see a single one longer than one line long (including this one) in the first 4 pages. If you post why you want to join this club and give some information about your swimming experience etc. then you can join, but be warned that short spammy posts will not be tolerated here and I reserve the right to ask you to leave the club if I don't approve of your posting habits (that applies to everyone).

[Papo]

Well i tooked some swimming classes and i got 2 place in a swimming contest.