Swimming noodle

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Training group in aqua fitness with pool noodles

A swimming noodle , often also a water noodle or pool noodle , is a very flexible tube or rod that can be used as a toy and fitness device and is usually made of solid, closed- cell polyethylene foam .

Swimming noodles are used as a swimming aid for beginners' swimming for children and adults and as gymnastics equipment in aqua fitness . The most common size is around 160 cm in length and around 7 cm in diameter, different sizes and colors are also available, as well as connecting elements with which several pool noodles can be combined.

The swimming noodle was invented in 1986 by the Canadian Richard Koster.

  • Different colored pool noodles

  • Bathing with pool noodles

Use as a spacer in traffic

If you want to overtake cyclists by car, you have to keep a safety distance of at least 1.5 meters in Germany. This distance was initially based on a judicial decision and was included in the road traffic regulations with the amendment to the German road traffic regulations from 2020 . In order to enforce this distance, a swimming noodle attached to the luggage rack was established as a spacer among cyclists at the end of the 2010s, after increasingly larger SUVs were approved in Germany . Such a construction is said to have been mentioned for the first time in October 2016 in an article about a Canadian cyclist in the Canadian daily Toronto Star . This then first established itself among cyclists in Canada. In several German cities, the swimming noodle was also specifically used as a symbolic means at bicycle demonstrations for maintaining the safety distance and in general for more rights in cycling. The method was later adopted by some motorcyclists.

  • Swimming noodle as a spacer on the bike

  • Bicycle demonstration with swimming noodles

Web link

Commons : Pool Noodles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nigel Mills: Polymer Foams Handbook: Engineering and Biomechanics Applications and Design Guide . Butterworth-Heinemann, March 23, 2007, ISBN 9780080475448 , p. 498 (accessed February 9, 2015).
  2. ^ Rüdiger Schneider, Josephin Köhler: Swimming: getting used to water - technique and methodology of the four main positions - starts and turns. Stiebner Verlag 2012, ISBN 3-767-91077-2 . Page 71
  3. ↑ Water aerobics: exercises to imitate . In: pharmacies look around . August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved on February 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.pooltoyinventor.com/
  5. ↑ Baha Kirlidokme bento: Why cyclists in Toronto stick pool noodles on their bikes. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  6. ↑ With the swimming noodle at a distance. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Frankfurt: With a swimming noodle, more space to the side for cyclists. April 12, 2019, accessed March 21, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Radler demo with "swimming noodles" in Dresden: Are they allowed at all? Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  9. ↑ mdr.de: Cyclists - With the pool noodle for a sufficient safety distance | MDR.DE. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  10. ↑ A pool noodle safety distance. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Ask motorcyclists to keep your distance, even in traffic. Retrieved April 4, 2020 .