Showers

There are way too many people who simply enter the pool without showering. This is gross.

Showering removes your hair product, your sweat, your deodorant, the dirt on you, and everything else. Getting in the pool without showering simply pollutes the water.

Shower Before and After Exercise

Don’t wear your clothes in the pool, especially after your work out, unless you've rinsed them in the shower. The sweat and stuff in your clothes will simply come off in the pool. Before each swim take a long shower in your swim clothes to rinse out any dirt and fluff. If you wear any waterproof clothes for your swim training, rinse them separately before you put them on.

Avoid Germs

There's a good reason to shower in your kit after gym class, swimming or other sports. As any parent who's washed a child's dirty gym clothes knows, those clothes can be hazardous to your health. But it's not just the smell that can do you in.

Sweaty sports clothes are a prime breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. Those warm, moist clothes create a perfect environment for germs to grow, and those germs can make you sick. When athletes get sick repeatedly, the best advice is to take a shower in their kit right after exercise and then change into fresh clothes.

Rinse out Salt, Sweat and Chlorine

Thoroughly rinse yourself and your kit to wash out the pool chlorine and other stuff. Salt, sweat or chlorine can rot your kit. If you have the chance, take a shower in your exercise or swimming clothes after a workout or swim, even if that option isn't popular among other people around you. Shampoo your hair and clothes.

When you take a shower after your swim keep your clothes on. After a while take off any waterproofs and rinse them from the inside. Don't leave any heaps of clothing that could create an obstacle.

Then hang your clothes out to dry. Don't leave damp or sweaty clothes in your locker until they can practically walk home by themselves.

Wear clean clothes for your next workout or swim. This advice applies to anyone who gets wet, hot or sweaty.