It is not always easy to find a niche for your swim session and you may need to train during busy hours. Guide-piscine gives you here some advice to succeed in swimming in a crowded pool while coexisting at best with other swimmers.
Choose the right line
Before taking the plunge, observe the water lines for a few moments to assess the level of the swimmers in each of them. Some pools indicate the type of swimming practiced in each lane: free swimming, fast swimming, swimming with fins … So be honest with yourself and do not overestimate your level. There is no point in swimming in the advanced swimmers’ line if you barely know how to swim the front crawl. You run the risk of embarrassing them and receiving blows. On the other hand, if the pool is not equipped with water lines and the pool is occupied by a majority of swimmers who have come just to wade, forget your swimming and lifeguard training and session and come swim at another time.
Respect the rules of good manners
If the pool is crowded, it is possible to swim as long as you follow certain rules. Respect the swimming direction and always swim on the right side of the line. If a swimmer is looking to overtake you, do not accelerate and you want to overtake another swimmer, do this before reaching the end of the line while being careful not to interfere with swimmers arriving from the other direction. If you’re tired and need a break, don’t park at the end of the line. Hold on to it and leave the wall free so as not to interfere with other swimmers in their turn or tumble. When restarting, do not do it under the nose of another swimmer about to make a turn. Let it pass and then start your turn. At the end of your workout, always look before crossing water lines to reach the ladder. Finally, if while swimming you collide with another user, apologize. This will avoid unnecessary tension within your line.
Avoid disturbing others
During peak hours, avoid swimming with accessories that could interfere with other swimmers. Forget about fins, pads, boards! On the other hand, the nose clip and the snorkel are perfectly tolerated. Also, forget the education that slows down your swimming paces such as the back to one arm or the crawl caught because you risk slowing down the whole line and annoying more than one! Finally, avoid swimming the butterfly because it is a swim that requires a lot of space.
Choose your schedules
To swim in complete serenity and in complete freedom, the best advice to give you is to avoid the peak hours. Ask at the reception, what are the best times to swim. Then it’s up to you to see if they coincide with your schedule.
Prescription sports
Prescription sport, which has only recently existed in France, is still unknown to the general public today. Learn all about prescription sport and its health benefits.
What is prescription sports?
Prescription sport has only existed since March 1, 2017.
It is aimed at people with a long-term condition. About thirty diseases are concerned by the decree, in particular problems of diabetes, heart failure, cancer, multiple sclerosis, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, or even following a stroke.
The prescribed sport generally comes in addition to drug treatment.
It is the general practitioner who is responsible for taking stock of the patient’s state of health. Capacity assessment work is essential in order to adapt the prescription. The doctor must then complete a specific form for the personalized prescription of an adapted physical activity detailing the patient’s profile (physical capacities, medical risk, etc.).
The patient is then referred to different types of professionals recognized for their ability to practice sport in a public with certain difficulties, such as teachers in APA (Adapted Physical Activities) , physiotherapists, sports educators, or even occupational therapists.
Is prescription sport covered?
To date, prescription sport, unfortunately, does not benefit from health insurance coverage.
However, some local authorities offer to finance sports on prescription to the inhabitants of their municipality and provide a team of qualified professionals, able to provide sports sessions prescribed by a doctor.
Strasbourg is notably one of those few united cities which allow even the most disadvantaged to benefit from the sports program on prescription.
Mutuals are also starting to look into the issue in order to be able to offer formulas adapted to their members affected by long-term illnesses.
All players in the health field should strive for prescription sports coverage, because it has been proven that adapted physical activity reduces the risk of chronic diseases and reduces the risk of recurrence of certain cancers and therefore, over time, limits costly drug treatments.
The special case of prescription swimming
All types of sports can be prescribed by a general practitioner, such as tennis, yoga, or cycling, but swimming remains a special case.
Indeed, swimming is a sport that suits the greatest number and has many health benefits. In addition, the effort remains moderate, because the aquatic environment facilitates all types of movements, thanks to the weightlessness.
The regular practice of swimming is among others beneficial in the following cases:
- overweight;
- diabetes;
- breathing difficulties;
- joint fragility;
- neurodegenerative diseases;
- cardiovascular problems;
- cancers;
- etc.
- Thus, swimming sessions can be prescribed by prescription to any person suffering from a long-term illness, in order to help improve their state of health.