[ham_sandwich]

As a longtime swimmer and water polo player, my eyes have been absolutely wrecked by harsh pools many, many times.

However, I don’t think it’s pee. First off, every swimmer pees in the pool.

I have been a part of tens of thousands of man-hours in the pool and seen people get out to pee maybe three times.

I have been in the first games of the day at water polo tournaments and have seen them chlorine shock the water followed by everyone’s eyes getting decimated. To me, the devil is unbalanced chlorine coupled with the thick, thick film of sunscreen that develops in the water after a scorching day with hundreds of people jumping in and out.

You get desperate when your eyes get that destroyed. The classic trick is to fill a pair of goggles with milk and just put ‘em on for a few minutes.

[crescentfresh]

> First off, every swimmer pees in the pool

A friend expressed this to me once when I caught her peeing in the pool and I was honestly skeptical that "everyone does it" as I would have never felt comfortable doing that. Still don't.

[ham_sandwich]

When you’re in the water that much, I think you just end up getting desensitized to it.

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Teammates going to a corner and openly declaring “don’t come over here I’m peeing.” Coaches literally encouraging it, saying it’s not worth it to get out and miss a set when you can stay in the water: “your urine is just a tiny, minuscule fraction of the total volume anyways”

When you spend that much time in the water with your teammates, it’s no longer an “open secret” that eveyone is doing it. It’s simply open.

[saalweachter]

"Everyone does it" does not mean "it's harmless".

If you want to see other examples of ubiquitous practices that were treated as harmless and necessary to be competitive and ultimately shown to be incredibly harmful, I would just refer you to {the entire history of competitive and professional sports}.

[jaytaylor]

I did swim team and high school and never peed in the pool. Getting out and dashing to the restroom was not a big deal in any way.

[matthewowen]

Were you swimming in the pool, or are you a swimmer?

I think that what OP means is "every person who swims competitively pees in the pool during workouts", not "every person who ever goes in a pool pees in the pool".

[superkuh]

Yup. It's pretty crazy (and gross) that people think this. People don't have any trouble urinating in the proper place in other contexts.

[barbecue_sauce]

I don't do it, but I also don't really care if other people do.

[synaesthesisx]

Alternatively, just wear goggles while underwater? My eyes get easily irritated swimming as well but goggles are a godsend.

[lotophage]

> First off, every swimmer pees in the pool

Straight up lie. I've swum for two decades and never pissed in a pool. Losing 30-60secs from a set to go take a piss is nothing. In Australia at least, pissing in the pool is considered repulsive. I don't doubt that some people piss in the pool, but I've never been in a squad and felt a "warm patch". If that did happen, others would notice and the person would be socially ostracised.

[Zimahl]

I don't know why you are getting downvoted, but I swam and played water polo in the US and we don't have a culture of 'just pee in the pool'. I don't remember a single instance of someone announcing peeing in the pool, let alone it being acceptable.

[ham_sandwich]

I think it is possible for that culture to exist on teams if it’s instilled by the coach. I have been on teams with more disciplined, formal coaches and people certainly weren’t as open about it. It would probably be frowned upon if brought up.

But I’ve also been on teams with more free-wheeling coaches and that attitude—ahem—trickled down to the rest of the team. And people would openly talk about it and just straight up do it.

[yesenadam]

>Straight up lie.

I think you meant just that it's not true. (Lying is where people say something they don't believe is true, attempting to deceive others.) I bother mentioning this because groundless accusations of lying seem to me to break the 'assume good faith' guideline.

[lotophage]

No, I meant what I said. If the original commenter swims as much as they claim, they surely would have encountered at least one non-pisser, rendering their statement untrue. The claim that every swimmer pisses in the pool is them just trying to normalise their own selfish disgusting behaviour.