Swimming Notes

I've been a swimmer for years and have done a number of triathlons. I have been concentrating on running and lifting, since I promised my son that I would do that with him until he leaves in early July, but after that it's run-swim-bike again for awhile. I will still lift, just not as obsessively as I have been these past 2 months.

I swim at the YMCA. There aren't a lot of options in Columbus for lap swimming. The only lap swimming available to civilians is the YMCA, but the YMCA has good facilities and is a great value. The 11th Street YMCA has 4 lanes; the one on Warm Springs Rd has 8. Both are 25 meter pools. Neither are crowded, but you need to pay attention to the scheduled lap swimming hours.

The 11th Street YMCA is also very close to the Riverwalk. In the winter, I usually go there after my long run on Saturdays to take advantage of the steam room and shower. It works out really well. An individual membership to the YMCA is $29 per month.

Double Churches Pool hosts a Master's Swim program during the summer. I checked and found out that it's already in progress. 6-8 am, from what I understand. The cost is $100 for the summer plus the cost of a US Master's Swim membership. This includes very good coaching, I'm told, and use of the pool during those hours.

Luckily, I'm also a member of the pool board for the neighborhood pool where I live. It's a 25-yard pool. I open it early, when I finish my morning run at 5:45, and open the pool's parking lot gate at 7:15am each morning so that any lap swimmers belonging to the pool can do their thing. Our pool opens before Memorial Day and closed last year in October.

If you're in the military, you can swim at the Bryant Wells pool on post. The new gym opens on June 29th and has 2 pools, including a lap swimming pool. It will be the finest gym in the Army, from what I read in the newspaper- a really great facility. I know that everyone on post is waiting patiently for that gym to open. I've seen it from the outside, it's huge.