Temperature Matters - 29th September 2013

What an incredible summer we had! I cannot recall having to don a warm top during the day for the best part of two months! I caught myself once or twice in the summer checking to see if I had begun to take it for granted and yes there were signs. However being British I chastised myself for this and made an effort to appreciate the genuine lack of any heat seeking tension in my body each day.

Now as autumn arrives I begin to notice the first signs of the ambient temperature having an impact on some of the swimming pools I teach in. Colder changing rooms, poolside air and pool water all have a bearing on attendance and the outcome of swimming lessons in the winter and even more so for those who are afraid. I am lucky enough to teach at a small school pool where the water and air temperature are well above average and lessons there consistently produce faster progress than other cooler places.

As winter comes upon us I understand that the starting temperature of water entering the pool system is cooler and outside cold increases heat loss making running costs rise for pool operators and any heating breakdowns can take a while to notice and also to fix. There are ways of reducing heating costs over the winter months however such as blanketing the water surface with a bespoke rolleable cover when the pool is unoccupied. That said I would also love operators to understand that there is a substantial cost to its clients being cold and there is certainly no benefit to allow delay of repairs to heating plant or lowering the thermostat to save on heating costs at anytime of year as the warmer the water the greater the progress made by the learners and swimmers. The reason: feeling cold is a major distraction and something that learners can ill afford when they already feel tense and reluctant to open out.

In the past everyone expected cold water unless they were at thermal springs like those in Bath Spa

and had to put up with it no matter the stage of their learning. It must have had a negative impact on learn to swim success rates although there are some suspected health benefits to habitual cold water immersion which intuitively led to the sea dipping habits of historical times. Today a steady warm temperature (water over 30 deg C and air 1 degree warmer than the water) is one of the greatest tools a swimming teacher can employ to reduce tension in the afraid and accelerate learning. If only swimming teachers had access to their pool centre's heating system and were equipped to deal with the vagaries of its maintenance!

                       "Fetch more slaves to stoke the furnaces.....I can't take my coat of in this"


Of course once someone has learnt to swim cold water swimming can be a refreshing delight, be necessary for a nicer workout or be a well managed challenge. It is also vital for all 'swimmers' to understand what it is like to be in cold open water so that they respect their own physiological limitations in natural environments but a comfortable temperature matters a great deal when you are learning.