Peeing in the Pool (with Video)

I got a lot of email responses regarding my last post, URINE AND CHLORINE CAN KILL YOU. No one seemed to care about the health implications I shared--the toxic chemical cocktail created from a mixture of chlorine and organic material. Every email was some peeing in the pool confession, or funny story, or observation about our urinating-history:

Mel, think about it, we've only had operational toilets for the last .05% of our time on earth. The other 99.5% of the time we went in rivers, lakes and seas...   

While I appreciate the intimacy I have with so many friends through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, it's no real revelation that anyone pees in the pool. 

Competitive swimmers have been letting out the yellow cloud as long as I can remember. It was a given, a fact of our two to six hour a day aquatic life. Your hair would surely be chlorine-burnt, your skin permanently itchy, and you knew the hydrating fluids you sucked down would ultimately recirculate through the body of liquid in which you swam. 

I have my own peeing stories and history. I rarely left the pool to pee. My first coach said, "True champions never stop training. They keep their heart-rates high and urinate while they're swimming." 

I never mastered the ability to actually pee while in motion, pulling and kicking. I always had to cling to the wall and use the aid of a heated jet-stream.  

I remember one swimmer, a girl back in boarding school (The Mercersburg Academy), who used to urinate on deck into a tiny drain right before racing. She said, "I just sit on the drain (which was in front of the starting blocks) and tee tee. That way I'm lighter, the lightest I can possibly be before I compete." 

"Right out in the open?" I asked her in disbelief. 

"No one can see," she added causally. "I'm sitting criss-cross applesauce directly above the drain's metal grill when I tee tee." 

I believe it's commonly held that competitive swimmers are a funny bunch, a truly weird tribe of water-logged people. I, for one, love how free we are about our bodies, even when it comes to peeing.

For the recreational version of peeing in the pool, this video pretty well explains things:

For the URBAN LEGEND about the urine-detecting chemical that creates a red dye when you pee in the pool, this video is comprehensive:  

FOR MORE SERIOUS NEWS, in a few days I'll be profiling one of my Olympic heroes, focusing on his work with Olympians, high-powered business executives, and celebrities. He was and still is "the man" in my book, one of the toughest swimmers in history.

Comments

[Puma Clyde]

I always wanted to articles such articles! Has not met the satisfaction! Know I saw your blog! My eyes lit up! ! I finally found the article I want to! Thank you for your article

[Zachary]

This is why i visit you site daily. Great read thanks. Incidently http://www.rapidmediafire.com has a similar topic.

[GMM]

Thanks, Lisa. I'm working on the profile now. The Olympian is someone I haven't covered in the last 3 years, and I've essentially cover everybody...

[Lisa]

I suppose the old saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is more a case of "what doesn't kill you NOW will just kill you LATER." Hah...

But in all seriousness, the danger of chlorine and organic materials mixing is scary in the context of contemplating all the possible implications. But when considering that so far, it hasn't posed an imminent threat, it can't be *too* much of an issue...for now. Or until it's learned otherwise.

On a lighter - yet still serious - note, the up-and-coming Olympic profile you're working on sounds exciting. Can't wait! :)

[GMM]

JCC, you have writing legs! I admire that... As for the DBPs, I'm not too worried about them. Most pools are well ventilated now. No hazards signs are needed... And no, coaches are not going to let kids out for pee breaks either, at least not the coaches I know.

[Jessica Cole-Crawford]

awww Mel, we appreciate your research and efforts to inform the masses of hidden health dangers lurking in the waters and we thank you for writing such a piece... but kinda hard not to laugh and have a little fun. Like you said, swimmers are a water-logged bunch of funny people and as such tend to be on the easy going side regarding things most people can get uptight about and certainly lack any sort of modesty regarding their bodies or therefore bodily functions such as urinating or public displays of various sorts (the deck changers for example). On a serious note, I am truly shocked about your revelation regarding the carcinogenic nature of the chemical reaction by product resulting from urine mixing with chlorine. I would never have guessed. I am a science minded person by nature and very curious and not one to get grossed out about things but rather to be curious about them. I find it interesting to be in the OR observing brain surgery for example (part of what I do in my professional life). So, I honestly appreciate the article that you took the time to research and write up. It was a welcomed respite from the topics usually discussed (not that I mind those either). I will probably be thinking twice the next time I get into the water, but seriously doubt that it will curb my desire to swim, perhaps instead it will make me think twice about contributing to the problem (I will NOT pee in the pool)! In order for me to feel like I can have any sort of intelligent discourse about the subject and thus any really meaningful contribution to any discussion, I personally feel that I would first need to do a little research of my own and educate myself a bit more on the topic. I can say, perhaps a tad pessimistically... let's just add this to the existing list of other carcinogenic-causing factors already presently identified in our environments. It seems like everywhere we turn, there is some sort of new headline about the harmful effects of this or that. Since we love the pool as much as we do, since we tend to equate water with our own form of personal/emotional/mental sanctuary, since competitive swimming is a way of life/a way of being and a way of existing, since we cannot imagine the world of sport without laps, starting guns, lane lines, half-undressed competition or touch pads... the question is... WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT??? There are other forms of water purification that do not utilize chlorine. But, are we still swimmers if chlorine clouds are not following us around when not in the pool??? That last question perhaps is more a rhetorical one. Or, should we simply put up signage around the pool decks, plainly visible to all patrons and swimmers alike, warning of the health hazards should one so foolishly chose to pee in the pool? Perhaps coaches world-wide can be convinced to incorporate pee-breaks into their workouts (yeah, right). Mel, I truly hope that you and your readers can appreciate my sense of humor. There may be one or 2 serious thoughts somewhere in my ramblings. In any event, thank you always for your blogs. I mean this most sincerely when I say that the swimming world would not be the same without you or your peepee in the pool... I guess we can say that you have truly left your mark on the swimming world! Luv ya Mel! xoxoxo, JCC :)