OHIO
- Akron
Ocasek Natatorium
SGOL Link
A-
Indoor fifty meters, pace clocks,
open all day long on weekdays.
Location (see details)
Yum yum yum. If you've ever been to Akron,
you know how important it is to have a diversion. You need to forget that
you are here and the Ocasek Natatorium at A.U. is as good as an opium den.
A minor complaint is that all fifty thousand pace clocks are on a different
schedule. 25's and 75's are out of the question, but if that's the price I
have to pay so that I don't climb up a on tower and pick off dazed Akronites
with an Uzi, to whom do I make out the cheque?
-
Cleveland
Brooklyn YMCA
SGOL Link
C-
Free with a Y card, staff is
super nice, kickboards and a paceclock placed high up so it can be seen from
both ends of the pool.
Ends of the pool are 20 yards apart.
Four lanes, one pathetic lane rope (see details), no flags, no gutters, no
other lap swimmers.
The lone lane rope is loose and old. A
string of chewed up puca shells would have been as effective. The wide-eyed
lifeguard held a press conference when I did a flip turn without losing my
pull buoy and I have no idea how many yards I did. I aim for 3,500 but twenty
yard pools mess with my head. Only if you are desperate to get in the water,
and I mean desperate.
- Sterling
Recreation Center
SGOL Link
B-
Six lanes, 25 yards, free (see
details).
No pace clock, only one lane rope,
no flags
I suspect that this pool was a jewel in
her heyday. Swimming at the Sterling is like going to an old movie house that
hasn't been restored yet. It's crusty and rundown, but it still has heart.
When I called to inquire
how much a swim cost, the front desk gal said, "It's free if you live in Cleveland."
"Oh! What if you don't
live in Cleveland," I asked.
"Well, just pretend like
you do." Click.
Yeah. You gotta love a
pool staff that helps you beat the system.
-
Natatorium @ CSU
A
Indoors, 50 meter facility.
The deep end is bottomless and Men's NCAA's were held here in '84, so the
record board is really cool.
If you don't attend Cleveland State
University. you have to sneak in.
A swimmer called Eddie, who I met at
the Sterling Rec Center (see above), told me about this pool. Most university
pools require a student ID or at least payment. If you have neither, find
a blank look and insert it into your eyes. Then strip to your suit and wander
onto the deck with your equipment. Someone will ask you to sign in. Announce
that you are looking for a masters team. It is helpful if you can sound stupid.
I don't know about you, but being blonde means that I can take it to another
level. Since you are ready to swim and not a threat to anyone's safety, the
lifeguard will write you off as an inbecile and warn you that next time you
need an ID.
Note- this only works
once.
Once you're in, you may
find yourself getting stroke instruction by an old guy named Anton. Don't
be afraid! Anton
Cerer was a member of Yugoslavia's '36 Olympic team and competed in Berlin.
He's also a Masters world record holder in five events and an assistant swim
coach at CSU. He gave me a great breastroke tip and then told me to turn it
up a notch, interval-wise. Of course, I'll pretend I didn't hear that last
comment.
- Cincinnati
Blue Ash YMCA
SGOL Link
B
Two paceclocks, kickboards,
25 yards, six lanes.
No gutters, the water in the main
pool is warm.
The Blue Ash (and isn't that name easy
to mispronounce...)has another facility, the Ferris Pool, which is "up the
hill," according to the lady at the front desk, and she assured me that the
Ferris Pool's water is sharp and chilly. At the overheated main pool on a
Thursday night, lap swim was from 8 to 10pm. The first hour, I shared the
pool with age groupers (I was shunted over to the gutterless wall lane), and
I am happy to say that I beat several seven year olds on a 25 sprint. The
kids got out at 9pm and a few more lappers slipped in, but I still had my
own lane.
Tanner than you'd think;
I think some of these Blue Asses spent New Year's in Florida.
-
Keating Natatorium @ St Xavier High School
SGOL Link
A
The Cincinnati
Marlins Masters work out in this fifty meter indoor facility. Kickboards,
paceclocks, and a noon workout.
I am in no shape for the Sunday workouts.
My heart is very grateful to the Marlins
team for letting me mooch a few workouts. My body is not quite so full of
gratitude but it is too exhausted to write its own review. As Coach Paul's
Friday afternoon workout almost killed me, I took my comfort in a few pints
of Guinness that night and enjoyed a complete recovery, only to show up to
Coach Randy's Sunday workout to get my ass kicked all over again. During the
main set, I tried to get in touch with my inner freestyler, only to find that
she'd skipped town three years ago during a 1650. Someone pour me a tall one.
At this point, I've
been at indoor pools for three months straight. Now I am part of the problem.
I need a gig in Hawaii.
- Cuyahoga
Falls
Bally's
SGOL Link
D
The Natatorium at Akron University
is only a few miles away.
Four lanes, no gutters, no flags,
no equipment and more.
The Bally's organization consistently
installs the worst pools in lap swim history. Back at corporate headquarters,
someone decided gutters were an extra expense that no one would miss. It's
a given that every Bally's pool sucks, so the question is always how much.
This one sucks alot. The walls are painted white, absent any black crosses
that indicate it's time to duck one's head for the flip turn. On this Saturday
afternoon, I'd racked up a week's worth of decent workouts at AU, so I was
going to relax anyway. When I saw the jacuzzi, my heart ached a little and
I almost canned the workout just to sit in hot splendor. No, no, I told myself,
it's important to workout. When I stuck my toe in the pool's overheated water,
well, clearly I was about to get the best of both worlds. I did about 800
yards and got out to make notes on how viciously I hate this pool.
Also, if it's possible
to get a venereal disease on one's feet, it'll happen from the Bally's skanky
bathroom floors. Put a condom on each foot and hold your breath.
- Dayton
Dayton
YMCA
SGOL Link
B-
25 yards, kickboards, one paceclock,
flags and it's open nearly all day long for lap swim.
Four lanes, hot water, no gutters.
Not much to say, really. You're in Dayton,
for God's sake, so clearly something isn't right with your life. When leaving
the parking lot, the parking arm will come down on your car, unless you sneak
out behind another car. You'll need to purchase a token at the front desk
for $1.50, or do like I do and wait for some young Christian to pull out and
leach on his bumper. It's like doing a pull set in the car.
8 1/2. Oh, these people
are ghoulish. In fact, all of Ohio seems to be trapped under a biosphere that
deflects the sun's rays. It's the State in the Plastic Bubble, starring a
million or so pale, doughy John Travoltas.
- Parma
Ridgeway YMCA
SGOL Link
C-
Six lanes, 25 yards, red Dolphin
kickboards.
Broken paceclock, water temperature
(see details) and landlocked lane ropes make it a DIY workout.
What a bummer. This pool has so much potential.
It's deep end is truly deep, the gutters are decent and its lane ropes were
manufactured in the 20th century. But none of this matters when the water
is 88 degrees. I mentioned something to the lifeguard who said, "Yeah,
it's usually 86!"
Also, the lane ropes are
used only for the swim team. If you offer to put one in yourself, you can
cordon off a wall lane but make sure to remove it when you leave.
