Minimum pool depth to swim in?

[Echidna]

Yep, another problem surfaces!

We are thinking about building a small saltwater pool,
because swimming in chlorinated public pools really isn't that great when swimming caps give you a severe headache
(I normally have them without tight caps already) and goggles nearly suck your eyes out of their sockets
(in a painful way I mean...), but.

I'm quite tall (over 5'9, with my fluke over 7ft in length), and in the average public swimming pool
(around 5'9 deep) I already hit my fin on the bottom a few times, even when swimming near the surface
and being really careful.

From what we've gathered, we cannot make our own pool deeper than 4'9 ft :O
So.
Is it possible for me to tailswim in that and not ruin my tail and/or swimming technique?
I really have no clue.

[MerEmma]

Why can't you make it any deeper? Budgeting, space?
That's sad. ): Five foot is the same as our YMCA and our YMCA's pool sucks, but that's just the Y being stupid...I don't know how to help you. It's possibly, but you can't ever stand upright.

[Echidna]

Why can't you make it any deeper?

Originally we wanted to build the pool in our garden, with a depth of 7 ft (I wanted more, but we have to heat it all year round and that costs), but now the authorities are making a fuss.
We are well within the regulations, but our "special" region here seems to want more than the usual to grant it
(bribes actually. Pretty sure we cannot afford that).

So now we consider building a tank in our cellar, but the roof in there is only a tidbit over 7 ft, thus the tank cannot be higher than 5 ft, and the water in it will probably even be lower.

I really doubt I can swim in that :/
If all it's good for is floundering about in, we need not build it and just use our tub :(

[MerEmma]

SOLAR PANELS! Look into solar panels! Good for the earth and cost-efficient too!

[Moongazer]

I'm sort of confused about what your trying to do? If you're just swimming horizontally, 5ft would be more then enough. I swim in a lap pool and it's less then 4ft deep but I can easily get my exercise.

Are you planning to do a lot of treading water or something? I'm not sure why you would need a pool that's deeper then you 'standing' with your tail on...

[MerMar]

Here you've the FINA rules for Synchro facilities, I think it's the most similar to mermaiding, http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373:fr-10-pools-for-synchronised-swimming&catid=88:facilities-rules&Itemid=184

And here is the ideal Syncro pools, http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=374:fr-11-pools-for-synchronised-swimming-in-olympic-games-and-world-championships&catid=88:facilities-rules&Itemid=184

Your local authority might be seeking for a proper safety measures and plan ... pool is too deep and children are around ... they're just doing their job. A blanket might be enough and will keep the water temperature so you'll kill two birds with one stone. Solar panels if you live in an UE country, you've aids. You're changing your house water heating system :rolleyes: Another thing is you don't need to fill up the pool to the top.

[MerMar]

Oh! forget ... the pool blanket colour will attracts heat from sun, irradiation, dark colours cos you want attract the sun rays!

[Echidna]

Here you've the FINA rules for Synchro facilities, I think it's the most similar to mermaiding, http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373:fr-10-pools-for-synchronised-swimming&catid=88:facilities-rules&Itemid=184

And here is the ideal Syncro pools, http://www.fina.org/H2O/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=374:fr-11-pools-for-synchronised-swimming-in-olympic-games-and-world-championships&catid=88:facilities-rules&Itemid=184


well, those say 2,5 to 3m depths (what I was originally aiming for).
It should not have been a problem either (there are no children around, it's our private enclosed property, and the pool will be covered anyway).
We've looked into solar panels, they are great. Might be worth it even with our scarce sunshine.

@Moongazer;
usually I don't go too deep under the surface when doing my workout. If possible, I dive deeper every now and then, if not possible, I just skim the surface, but even then, I sometimes hit my fluke on the bottom if it's too shallow, and 5ft IS too shallow for me.

May I ask how tall you are if you can fully tailswim in 4ft deep water without problems?

[MerEmma]

I'm 5'4 and I can swim in four foot water with my monofin easily just swimming laps or swimming along the middle. It's not as enjoyable as if it were deeper, but I still like it.

[MerMarla]

Caltuna, I wonder if you present the Fina.org requirements for Syncro, and say you need the depth for practice (you are an aspiring Olympian, aren't you??? LOL). Having those requirements may help the authorities in giving you your permits. Sometimes they are overzealous in protecting everyone to the point that they forget you can drown in 2cm of water. Depth shouldn't have a bearing. Our town requires us to have a 1.5 m fence around a pool area, even tho we are a farm with fencing for the horses. If you say you would put in an extra fence that may help.

Then again, you could risk being bad, do what you want and apologize later. Sometimes asking for permission up front gets you more trouble than apologizing after the fact. I doubt they would make you fill in the pool if you made it deeper than the design submitted. I know of people building a pool that paid the inspection fees, and the inspector. And they got what they wanted. Sometimes "greasing the wheel" really helps. I didn't say that did I? Good luck! We are going to look into a Syncro pool, too, but in a couple years. Too cold in the river, and the YMCA pool is never really clear.

Mermaid Marla (Weeki Wachee 1969-1972)

[Echidna]

Caltuna, I wonder if you present the Fina.org requirements for Syncro, and say you need the depth for practice (you are an aspiring Olympian, aren't you??? LOL).

well, yes I am! How did you know? :D

The 2cm-drown-thing is very true, I am not sure though whether the authorities' reluctance to permit an actually permission-free project (less than 100m³ water, distance to all neighbours/roads at least 3m) is related to the planned depth at all.
It's a case of small village municipality trying to enforce their own ideas disregarding federal laws.

I just didn't want to derail the relevant issue of the thread by going into too much detail there.

Anyway, if you guys can swim in 1,20m deep water if needed, I guess I can manage with a tad more as well.
Will have to stop snapping my ankles then on the last movement of the dolphin kick.
That's sad, but still better than not swimming at all I guess ;)

"Fun" Fact:
During my initial research about regulations and whatnot for pools in my region, I found several people who had inflatable swim basins in their garden during the summer, who were told by their municipalities to remove them because they were "dangerous" and "an eyesore".

[Ayla of Duluth]

I was actually kind of curious about swimming in shallow water. I got booked for a festival at a bed and breakfast, and they have a pool that was designed to look like a shallow pond. Its 2 feet deep by like 25 feet in diameter. I'm pretty sure I could float around, but I'm not so sure about dunking my head under. :P

[MerMar]

......
It's a case of small village municipality trying to enforce their own ideas disregarding federal laws.

........
"Fun" Fact:
During my initial research about regulations and whatnot for pools in my region, I found several people who had inflatable swim basins in their garden during the summer, who were told by their municipalities to remove them because they were "dangerous" and "an eyesore".

Ahggg! people complaining about everything. Very common everywhere

You said you're synchro swimmer training at high performance level. You've skills to train in very reduced spaces. 1.2 metres is enough deep for underwater dolphin swimming (I was swimmer, high performance according Irish). With regard your fluke, it's physically impossible cos it's bigger than the pool you can build. Very sad. It's very sad you can't build a proper pool for neighbours complaining about everything.

I'm not seeing the utility of a private pool where you can't train on your tail but I've tail yet so let's see what former mermaids say.

[Echidna]

I was actually kind of curious about swimming in shallow water. I got booked for a festival at a bed and breakfast, and they have a pool that was designed to look like a shallow pond. Its 2 feet deep by like 25 feet in diameter. I'm pretty sure I could float around, but I'm not so sure about dunking my head under. :P

It depends on your size, and how large your fluke is.
During the last week, I've been trying out different pool depths, and I could indeed really swim (underwater) down to a shallowness of 1,25m
(and I'm 7ft long with fluke), however it wasn't comfortable at all, and each time I turned, stopped, or floated, I scraped the fluke on the bottom.
So I won't enter a pool shallower than 1,65m again, and even that will be quite exhausting after awhile, but it's possible.