If you had access to two pools—one with cold water and the other with heated water—which one would you go for, and why?
I’m curious because I recently started swimming regularly and have access to both options. I’ve read that cold water can be invigorating and even good for recovery, but heated water feels so relaxing and comfortable, especially after a long day.
What’s your preference, and does it depend on the season, time of day, or the type of workout you’re doing?
Any serious swimming (or any physical activity) will increase the body heat. When in the open air, the sweat and a little wind cools you down. In the pool, if it is above 27°C, you will not let you cool down and will overheat you. Making you more tired, quickly.
Cold one, unless the heated one is 26 degrees or below. I detest swimming in excessively warm water.
How cold? How warm? Indoor or outdoor? Air temp?
Will choose anything from 81°F down to around 65°F over anything 82°F+ for lap swimming.
Cooler air temps might tip that a little warmer. Warmer air temps and/or warm sunshine might tip it toward the cooler side.
@Vine
I agree with your premise, but 65??? That is frigid for a pool. Triathlons allow wetsuits below 73 or 74. High schools sometimes won’t allow practice below 70.
Frances said:
@Vine
I agree with your premise, but 65??? That is frigid for a pool. Triathlons allow wetsuits below 73 or 74. High schools sometimes won’t allow practice below 70.
Agree - 65 is cold and my absolute bottom limit! The times I’ve swum in this temp have either been springtime in a non-heated family pool or when the heater was broken at my regular lap-swim pool. I limited my swims to 30 min in that case! But I still prefer swimming laps in that vs trying to lap swim in chicken-soup (what anything 83° and up feels like to me! It just saps out every last drop of energy I have).
Frances said:
@Vine
I agree with your premise, but 65??? That is frigid for a pool. Triathlons allow wetsuits below 73 or 74. High schools sometimes won’t allow practice below 70.
Ya polar bear lol. Pool. 70 is really pushing it for me. And nobody else is staying in for 5 minutes and I’m out soon as I stop swimming. I love when it’s 74 though. No casual swimmer stays beyond 5 minutes. Floaters still won’t touch it. Opening week of summer pools numerous times I get it all to myself lol.
@Vine
Opening day pool last summer it was 69. No pleasure swimming for sure. Laps were uncomfortable even. Soon as I stopped moving end of swim. Few days later at 72 I was ok to do a workout. You are a bit of a cold swimmer above most. It was another week and 75 before anyone else stayed in for more than a few minutes lol.
@Journey
Yeah, that is true, I was one of the last few hold-outs when the heater broke. A couple of tri swimmers were there in their wetsuits, me, and one or two others that were used to open water swims. At 65, knowing it would drop even lower, that was my last swim until they fixed the heater. I will have to say though, as heater was fixed and the pool heated back up, 72 felt downright toasty!
@Vine
Oh I do also agree with you on the + temps as well. 79 is the “good” pool I swim occasionally. No overheat. 81 YMCA pool. Acceptable. Anything over that and I get too hot eventually if seriously pumping for any length of time. You wouldn’t think a degree or two changes things that dramatically but it does.
For a time last year I was a member at 2 gyms. One’s pool was warm, the other cold. I didn’t prefer it, but I swam at the colder pool to help prepare for triathlon, which are all open water swims in my area.
Cold, the hot is the hot tub and I cannot swim there so boom.
Cold pool always. Warm pools make me feel like I am suffocating, can’t swim as much, and can’t swim as fast.
I prefer cooler water to warmer water but it would depend on how cold it was! I regularly swim with no wetsuit in Lake Tahoe in the summer (65ish degrees) but I wouldn’t necessarily want to do that every single day or swim in freezing water in the winter.
It depends on what the cold and heated are. A competition is heated but between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius. Heated doesn’t necessarily mean hot. Both pools I workout in are heated but fall in that 25-28 degree range and are perfect.
Can I jump into the warm pool to warm up and then switch to the cold pool once my body temp is acclimated?
Vanya said:
Can I jump into the warm pool to warm up and then switch to the cold pool once my body temp is acclimated?
Sure, both pools are free to use.
Vanya said:
Can I jump into the warm pool to warm up and then switch to the cold pool once my body temp is acclimated?
This is the way.
Cold water… unless it’s too cold ^^
I think it depends on your goals and yardage. If you are looking at doing high effort/longer yardage, pick the cold pool. If you are just doing laps and low yardage, warm should be fine. Just drink water with electrolytes because you’ll sweat more.