Need a pool at POP for lap swimming.

[forever a child]

DD need a pool to do some lap swimming. Her coach ain't happy we are going to be gone for 8 days only 2 weeks before a swim meet....so we need a suggestion for a pool that will be good for her to do some early morning lap swimming. We have never been to POP before. What time do the pools open up?

Thanks!

[betteratmk]

Pools are open 24 hours but only with a life guard during the day to early evening. They have quiet hours after midnight to 7:00 am. The computor pool or bowling pin pools are quite a bit quieter than the Hippy Dippy!

[JoDisney]

I would suggest you request a room outside the "computer pool." It is not guaranteed but you can request and then it is available to you to do your laps early morning. It is a large square shaped pool. It might be what you are looking for to do your laps. Google "pop century computer pool." It is about half way down the page and will say "computer pool - Pop Century fansite" There is a picture of that pool. We were outside that pool in the 90s building, all you had to do was cross the parking lot and you were at the buses too. Many people will complain that it is far away but we enjoyed having the computer pool near us and it was not a short walk across the parking lot to the park buses. You can go into the food court too from your walk across the parking lot. Just go into the front of Pop Century by the bus stops.

[Hammer]

No need to go through Google, as we have a picture of the computer pool here on Intercot. If your daughter does her laps early in the morning or late in the evening, the pool may be less crowded.

[forever a child]

Thanks everyone. We will probably use the computer or bowling pin pool depending on where our room ends up. (I had requested a 50's room before considering this issue) She is used to 6am and 7am practices so we will be up early
So is there a time restriction on pool use? I am hoping that we won't get in trouble for her being in the pool that early. I don't want her swimming alone in the morning...so I guess I will be down there too. She can out swim me but I don't think anyone should ever swim alone and I assume there will not be lifeguards that early.

[ransam]

i think swiming that early you'll have no problems....

[KylesMom]

So is there a time restriction on pool use?

The only thing you may run into is pool maintenance/chemical testing - oh, and ducks impeding DD's laps! Seriously - if there's an issue with the pool, they'll have the "No Swimming" signs up with the area blocked off. The same thing will happen if there is lightning in the area.

I assume there will not be lifeguards that early.

Correct - there will not be pool attendants on duty at that time of the morning.

[BrerGnat]

Is your daughter a SERIOUS competitive swimmer? Like, high school age? If so, she might not find the pools at Pop good for lap swimming at all. They are very shallow and not nearly long enough.

The computer pool is DEFINITELY too small. I'd suggest going to the Bowling Pin Pool, which is long and narrow (nearly twice as long as the computer pool).

However, if she is a really die hard swimmer, and the week away is going to pose a big problem, you might consider upgrading to the Swan or Dolphin hotel, which offers a TRUE 25m lap pool.

I used to be a competitive swimmer in high school. I found it extremely hard to swim practice laps in shallow and/or "too warm" pools. Shallow pools make it impossible to do flip turns, and having to stop and turn around after each lap really kills the momentum of a good workout.

Plus, the pools at pop have stairs at either end. She won't be able to swim to the edge. She'll have to stop, stand up and turn around, and then start up again without a kick off.

[forever a child]

Is your daughter a SERIOUS competitive swimmer? Like, high school age? If so, she might not find the pools at Pop good for lap swimming at all. They are very shallow and not nearly long enough.

The computer pool is DEFINITELY too small. I'd suggest going to the Bowling Pin Pool, which is long and narrow (nearly twice as long as the computer pool).

However, if she is a really die hard swimmer, and the week away is going to pose a big problem, you might consider upgrading to the Swan or Dolphin hotel, which offers a TRUE 25m lap pool.

I used to be a competitive swimmer in high school. I found it extremely hard to swim practice laps in shallow and/or "too warm" pools. Shallow pools make it impossible to do flip turns, and having to stop and turn around after each lap really kills the momentum of a good workout.

Plus, the pools at pop have stairs at either end. She won't be able to swim to the edge. She'll have to stop, stand up and turn around, and then start up again without a kick off.

Thanks for your input. Yes, DD is a USA swimmer. She swims 2 hours a day 6 days a week. We are in long course right now so 50 meters is what she is swimming. I was thinking about the bowling pin pool being the better option for distance. She is a breast stroker so if she can't do the flip turns I guess she will have to get a lot of breast/fly turns in. I was wondering about the depth of the pools for flip turns. That's what I was thinking.

Originally when we told Coach, she didn't say anything too much about it, but when we reminded her this week she wasnt happy....so we will have DD get 30 minutes in a day and keep up with her drylands and then there is a lot of walking to be done at the parks...so that will help. We thought lunges in wait lines might be fun and she can carry weights in the park! LOL (not really)

She would have preferred us to have DD practice with another USA team (which is what we usually do when we travel) but it wasn't practical for this trip, we wont have a vehicle and aren't breaking up our day for swim practice!

Thank for the heads up though...we will just have to make do!

[BrerGnat]

I'd have her bring some resistance mitts. That way she can keep her strength up while swimming a bit less. The value resort pools are, at most, 4 ft deep. Most of the pools are closer to the 3.5 ft range.

Breaststroke is probably the best stroke to swim in shallow water. I used to swim the fly, which was awful to do in shallow water.

She can also run up and down the stairwells at Pop. Buildings are three stories tall. Makes for a good quad workout

[4myprincesses]

One other thing you may look into is a day pass to a spa that might have a better pool. I am not sure if the Grand Floridian or Saratoga Springs would have a better suited pool in their spa or not. There are off-property ones as well, but I am assuming you are limited to on-site transportation.

I admire you as a parent for trying to plan ahead and supporting your daughter in her sport. My girls are both swimmers, though not at that level, so I can commisserate with the early morning practices. Currently we are between seasons...that means the practices aren't as long or frequent since it is "just conditioning." They love it though, and it is wonderful to see them take hold of it and give it their all. Were my girls at the same level, we would likely be looking as well for lap-swim capabilities. In this sport, one-hundreth of a second really counts!

Best wishes on your trip and in your daughter's events to come!

[forever a child]

I'd have her bring some resistance mitts. That way she can keep her strength up while swimming a bit less. The value resort pools are, at most, 4 ft deep. Most of the pools are closer to the 3.5 ft range.

Breaststroke is probably the best stroke to swim in shallow water. I used to swim the fly, which was awful to do in shallow water.

She can also run up and down the stairwells at Pop. Buildings are three stories tall. Makes for a good quad workout

That's for the suggestion. DD has never used the swimming mitt before but we will see what her coach things and if she has a pair DD can borrow for our trip.

One other thing you may look into is a day pass to a spa that might have a better pool. I am not sure if the Grand Floridian or Saratoga Springs would have a better suited pool in their spa or not. There are off-property ones as well, but I am assuming you are limited to on-site transportation.

I admire you as a parent for trying to plan ahead and supporting your daughter in her sport. My girls are both swimmers, though not at that level, so I can commisserate with the early morning practices. Currently we are between seasons...that means the practices aren't as long or frequent since it is "just conditioning." They love it though, and it is wonderful to see them take hold of it and give it their all. Were my girls at the same level, we would likely be looking as well for lap-swim capabilities. In this sport, one-hundreth of a second really counts!

Best wishes on your trip and in your daughter's events to come!

Thank you for the encouragement. I LOVE watching and supporting DD at the meets and swimming in general. We just got home from meet and have to head back tomorrow to be at pool for warm ups at 7am! I wish we had started her at it earlier on. She didn't join USA team until age 14 she she was behind. But she has been doing well and always improves. She has a great attitude and dedicated hard work so she is so close to really moving up in her level competitively. She just placed 12th today at the 200 meter Breastroke in longcourse!

We have fun together with it and she is in great shape physically as a result so I can't complain! Thanks again for encouraging me and I would highly recommend you keep your girls going with it...it is so much easier for them to perform well the younger they start and stay at it. Have fun!

[BrerGnat]

In lieu of resistance mitts, you can take two tennis balls that she holds in her fists as she strokes. This will make her work much harder and she will move forward much less. This is a good way to condition in a smaller pool (it's sort of like walking up a down escalator...you have to run in order to actually get anywhere). Tennis balls are easy to get and pack in a suitcase. We used to use these during swim practices in high school, since they are cheaper than providing resistance mitts to a whole team...