Tip of the Week: Timing your Swim in Different Pools

November 10, 2008

Ever been in a position where you go to a new pool and that pace clock just keeps saying that you are slower than you think?  Before you get depressed in self pity, consider this.  If you are reading your time off an analog dial clock, your perspective has a huge impact on the time you read.  The reason is that typical analog/dial clocks have the rotating hands about a centimeter above the clock surface.  Thus, the time you read is somewhat dependent on the angle you are to the clock face.

Here’s how it can get frustrating.  Let’s say your home pool has a dial clock that is 15 feet above the pool deck, and let’s say you leave on the “60” or “top” and expect to do a 200 in 3 minutes, 25 seconds.  You are really going about 3 minutes, 27 seconds, but you keep reading 3 minutes, 25 seconds because you are staring up and so the clock traces to a lower value on the pace clock than it is actually covering.

Then, when you do the same set in another pool where the dial clock is at pool level, you get disappointed because you are reading a more accurate picture of speed (in this case 3 minutes, 27 seconds).  If you know what happens when reading a clock, you can account for the difference.  Thus, you can get an accurate picture of how fast you are going, no matter where you are in relation to the clock.  Until next time, happy training

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