WaterTemp Does Make a Difference

I've harped on water temperature enough in this blog to write a book. In keeping with the theme, here's another post. Over the past two weeks I've seen my preferred lap pool's temperature swing from an average of 81F up to 87F and as low as 77F (this is an indoor pool). Today it was at 83F. What's amazed me is my speed variability as a result of these temps. I typically do a pretty consistent mile in terms of time. In the short period of two weeks, I've seen my times swing 1.5 minutes (maybe more) on either side. I always knew warm water fatigued me, but I find this disparity amazing. Obviously, I can factor out fitness or lack there of as a cause for this disparity. I've seen swings in my speed over the course of six months, but never so much over just a few days. I honestly don't think the people in charge of pool temps really have any idea of the impact they are having on those of us who use the pool (much less the impact on their own facility's bottom line. Sure they get a lot of hell from both sides - some are too cold, others too hot. But don't the high temps and the big, fast swings effect the bottom line - i.e. the utility bills? I'm all for saving money. Swimming faster is an added bonus! I think I'm on the right side of this argument. Save money and lower the pool temperature. Now!