Westwood vs NAC

Neverlandland

Hi,

I am looking to start training for a triathlon, but have to work on my swimming big time. I haven't swam in a very long time, so have nearly no confidence in the water. I seem to have narrowed my choice down to westwood and the NAC.

I only need it for 2 months really, westwood said that they'd give me membership for 4 months instead of the full year. Off peak membership = 55, whereas the NAC is only 37 euro per month anytime, and I could quit at the end of July.

The only thing that is worrying me is the depth of the pool. From what I can see, the NAC pool is over 2 metres deep. I have read that the westwood one is a bit shallower. Can anyone confirm this from personal experiences? I wouldn't be too keen on the idea of not being able to touch the bottom of the pool!

Thanks!

kris71

Neverlandland don't get me wrong but if you want to do OW in 2 months then depth of the water should be the last thing you should worry about nac can change their pool depth by lifting up the bottom of the pool btw. You should ring them up and ask them what times the pool is more shallow as I don't know what times they are changing the depth.

btw.
If you need help with your swimming leg send me a pm and I might have a solution for you :cool:

Neverlandland

I probably am being too ambitious aiming for a 1.5km open water swim in 2 months, but for the time being, I would rather a pool where my feet can touch the ground, as it has been around 15 years since I swam and have little confidence in the water. I have a decent level of fitness so it's mainly the technique that I'll need to work on, but Im still going to try to get it done. Hopefully the wetsuit will add a bit of bouyancy when in the open water also.

gottarun

The wetsuit will eliminate the concerns re the depth of water in the open water and you will be well supported by safety kayaks in any triathlon race.

A suggestion I might offer coming from a triathlon background, in order to help get triathlon specific swimming fitness you can do pull buoy training in the pool to replicate the buoyancy effect of the wetsuit, thus focussing on your arm catch, pull and push.

Balance this with regular stroke swimming as you will be kicking in the race too.

padraig_f

I learnt to swim in the NAC and didn't find the water depth a problem. I was also slightly nervous starting off, and in that case you just stay on one of the outside lanes so you can hold onto the wall if you need to.

The NAC also has a 1m depth pool (the 50m pool is divided into 2.4m and 1m pools for most of the day). Not sure about the availability of this during the day (it's often used for beginner classes, aqua-aerobics etc.), but maybe you can use that.

I think you'd be better off going with the NAC, it's cheaper for you and by all accounts a better swimming pool, really I don't think the water-depth will be a problem.

kris71

What distance can you cover now without stopping?

Tom Fiat

lifeguards in the NAC always seem pretty disinterested to me
wouldn't like to be dependent on them
saw one guy in trouble once and he was dragged out by another random punter.
bout 2/3 mins before the lifeguard even bothered to call over and assess the situation
not good enough in my opinion

kris71

1)I would be careful in judging whole team based on once performance
2)Problem in the nac is the amount of lifeguard cover on swimming part of the facility - in my opinion anyway

Did it happen in the swimming or leisure part of nac. If in the first one how many lifeguards were there and how far away were they from the accident location?

Never worked there but I've heard they have really weird rotation system in place that I completely disagree with. I don't know if its still in place so I don't want to get more into details, maybe someone from nac could throw some light on the fact that lifeguard on the swimming part of the complex usually looks like he would be on the break ;-P

hug0

Sorry to hijack tread, Im also doing a tri at the end of the month, Im just going to the 400m instead of 750m as its the first time in OW.
Its in a lake.

Im also a little anxious about swimming OW with lots of people, if anyone has tips please let me know. Im strong enough at swimming but need more practise to get distance up. Should I start at the back?

Also could Kris71 give everyone the tips or pm me too.

Could gottarun tell me more about 'pull buoy training', does the wetsuit give you much bouyency?

Thanks in advance:)

lorcan122

Neverlandland, i would go for the westwood gym in clontarf as they have a 50 meter pool all the time as they can't change the length or the depth, the depth of the pool in westwood is 1.2 or 1.4 meters, in the nac they normally only have the main pool as 50 meters at 6am or 10 pm, so if you are not that flexible i would go with westwood, the membership in westwood allows you to attend swimming training free of charge it is called master swimming and its focus is really for triathletes. If you go to westwood they will give you a tour and will allow you one free visit to use the facilities. I prefer westwood.

kris71

hi hug0

Hope its not to late for you

most of all remember to do a few practice sessions in your wetsuit before race
during those sessions test all your gear: hat, goggles, wetsuit, trisuit, and whatever else you will use on the race day so there will be no surprises on thn
practice sighting (navigation)
and try to maintain steady pace

mind if I ask you where is that triathlon?

P.s remember safety goes first - if you are not an experience swimmer make sure you are being supervised by a lifeguard. If you are leaving anywhere close to Fingal email me on kris@swimming.ie so I can let you know whereabouts I'm going to be so I can give you a few tips when I see you