Asphalt Green eliminates concept of "time"

[thorpedo]

Six weeks ago, Asphalt Green put its legion of lifeguards to work enforcing a circle-swim-at-all-times policy, which means that whether there is only one person in a lane, or three, everyone must swim in a circle. Since Asphalt Green only allows passing at the wall, it is now common to see lanes of two, where serious swimmers are forced to "ride" slower swimmers until they are permitted to pass at the wall. Meanwhile, you spend your entire workout wondering why, at 9:30 at night with just a few people in the pool, you're swimming in a circle.

Unless you swim without a timeclock and are not bothered by stop and go swimming, serious swimmers should avoid Asphalt Green. It is an unbelievably frustrating place to swim.

[nyswimmer]

Dude, sorry, but "serious" swimmers shouldn't have a problem with circling. If there are only two swimmers in the lane (a very rare occurrence at AG, that doesn't last long), it shouldn't even matter (it's a matter of timing). And if there are three or more, there's obviously no alternative.

The reason AG stopped tolerating splitting (the rules never actually allowed it) is that too many splitters would ignore a third swimmer trying to get in -- or even flat out refuse to circle. AG is just too busy for that. Of course you could go to a different pool, that's not as busy and doesn't require circling. Oh right -- there aren't any in New York.

(Sorry if this response seems snarky, but I'm a long time member of AG, and I'm tired of all the whining.)

[thorpedo]

Point taken.

Splitters and whiners should avoid Asphalt Green.