Pool Ettiquette

partyguinness

Not showering before using the pool....now this is something that really winds me up....:mad:

Despite all the signs about 'Please shower before using the pool' I and my young son genuinely seem to be the only people who actually does.

It is more obvious with women.

'I am sorry Mary, forgive me for noticing but:

a. You are wearing a full face of makeup (plus jewellery)
b. Perfume
c. Fake tan and
d. No doubt- deodorant.

Do you fecking well think it is okay for me and others to swim in all at that crap that will float on top of the water?'

Sorry- I just needed to get that off my chest.

I am seriously going to email the Club I am a member of to see if they can emphasis it more.....:mad::mad::mad::mad:

SlowInWater

You are worried about a little bit of make up, but not the gallons of detergent you are swimming in?
The Chlorine or Ozone in the pool will take care of anything people will carry into the pool on their skin, by bleaching the skin of everyone in the pool.
The reason pools ask people to shower is not for any reason other them saving them some money on chlorine/ozone.

partyguinness

SlowInWater wrote: »

You are worried about a little bit of make up, but not the gallons of detergent you are swimming in?
The Chlorine or Ozone in the pool will take care of anything people will carry into the pool on their skin, by bleaching the skin of everyone in the pool.
The reason pools ask people to shower is not for any reason other them saving them some money on chlorine/ozone.

I am not worried in the slightest- it's the bad manners and inconsideration that winds me up.

The chlorine will kill bacteria but it does not remove the grease and gunk from the perfume, make up etc.

It's common sense really.

ToTriOrNot

I was swimming the other day, and there was three teenagers, every time I passed next to them, I would be chocking in the perfume or deodorant they were using, it was disgusting!! I do have a shower before I enter the pool, I might let my kids not have one, but they do not use perfume or deodorant or make up for that matters!! It's a bit of respect really!!!

Freddio

It makes for great training for the Liffey tho :-)

partyguinness

I should say that when I say shower I mean a good rinse under the water rather a full blown soap and shampoo job.

Ben D Bus

It's the deodorant that bothers me. It seems to form a thin layer at the surface leaving me breathing hideous metallic gunk. Sometimes it's so strong I think someone must have sprayed it on just before getting into the pool.

Dilbert75

The most I ever see anyone doing is a quick rinse before getting in. That's not going to remove any heavy, greasy contamination like make-up. Urine is probably the other big contaminant and that's most likely internal when in the showers. The other contaminants seem no less gross but will be hugely diluted in a swimming pool.

AngryHippie

Ben D Bus wrote: »

It's the deodorant that bothers me. It seems to form a thin layer at the surface leaving me breathing hideous metallic gunk. Sometimes it's so strong I think someone must have sprayed it on just before getting into the pool.

I know the exact film of oily crap that you are talking about.
It is much worse in pools with skimmer box systems. Deck level pools don't suffer as badly from it at all, as the constant overflow sucks it off the top very quickly. The worst offender of all is sunscreen, Big problem here in Oz, as almost everyone swimming will have slapped on a layer at some stage in the day, you can actually see the layer of scummy zinc oxide behind people who have just gotten in.
Most pools over here are deck level though, so it gets overflowed and sucked away very quickly.

There is not really much you can do about it. The vast majority of people will continue to not shower before swimming, and those that do won't shower well enough to remove all of the various chemicals on their bodies.

Pool disinfectant at the regulated levels does neutralize it all pretty quickly, and the volumes of urine/sweat etc in a pool are really tiny in concentration for a normal cross-section of pool users. The high risk times are toddler lessons and school classes, I'm under no illusions as to how often little kids take a whizz in the pool, I generally don't swim at those times, giving the filters and chemicals time to turn over the water and remove/neutralize all the nasties.

SlowInWater

I have to say I find the smell of bad body odour a lot worse than deodorant in a pool.
The perfume and deodrant is still only a small component of the dirt you are swimming in, urine, faecal matter, hair, mucus, blood, skin, it is all in there.

The things that concern me more in the pool in terms of manners are the guys who think they are fast enough to be in your lane and get in your way, push off in front of you and block up the end walls.
That is bad manners in a pool.

If you watch the majority of serious swimmers, club swimmers, masters, you will see that practically none of them shower beforehand, because they know how pointless it is.