After reading the thread, “bad pools” I can relate! My swim team has been cut to two lanes-making it difficult for 10-15 people to lap swim. We have had several problems including swimming against bugs who swim faster than we do, pool temperature at a constant 86 degrees, and a difficult club manager. We have tried talking with the club; however, it is the only pool in town. We have discussed the idea of building a pool; however, we have no idea where to begin. Our goal is to build a competitive pool that the high school, age group, and masters teams could use for practices and competitions. We are in a great location—a city of 250,000 and several small towns in the surrounding area. We would like to bring several new “aquatics” ideas to this area. We are only 10 years behind the rest of the world! We are having a difficult time finding a “ball park” estimate of what it would cost for a 50m pool with a diving well. Does anyone have some suggestions of where we should start? Thanks!!
Parents
Former Member
To go along with the worst pool thread, why don't we help out here with some discussion/ideas about what makes a pool and its related facilities really great! This club might want to incooperate some of the ideas into their plans.
I swim in a Y pool. It is very basic, six lanes, 25 yards, 4 feet to 12 feet deep. The gutters are flat tiled surfaces that are about a foot wide, which allows a swimmer to push up and sit on them. The edge of the pool is about another 4 or 5 inches above the gutters. The temperature is kept between 78 and 80 degrees. In the 2 years I've been swimming there I've only seen the water cloudly one time. Three lanes are for lap swimmers. The ceiling is a very high pitched cathederal ceiling with sunlights. This sometimes causes COLD condensation to come plopping down on a warm body! One side of the pool enclosure is all glass and looks out onto a private courtyard with chairs for sunning on nice days--the enclosure even gets warm enough in the early winter and spring to enjoy some fresh air. The street side windows are very high off the ground and frosted for privacy. There is a great hot tub in the pool area. The dressing rooms have both saunas and steamrooms. (imho these are necessities to ease achie muscles)
The worst thing about this pool 1) the lane lines and crosses on the sides are black tile, very pretty, but slippery... when turning my feet will occasionally slip, 2) the fan that moves the air around in the pool area is very loud and its hard to talk over/hear, 3) the deck surface can get a little bit slippery too 4) there aren't enough chairs/benches/hooks in the pool area to put towels, eye glasses, etc.
Like I said, its basic but compared to some of the horror stories in the Worst Pool thread I have nothing to complain about!
Lainey
To go along with the worst pool thread, why don't we help out here with some discussion/ideas about what makes a pool and its related facilities really great! This club might want to incooperate some of the ideas into their plans.
I swim in a Y pool. It is very basic, six lanes, 25 yards, 4 feet to 12 feet deep. The gutters are flat tiled surfaces that are about a foot wide, which allows a swimmer to push up and sit on them. The edge of the pool is about another 4 or 5 inches above the gutters. The temperature is kept between 78 and 80 degrees. In the 2 years I've been swimming there I've only seen the water cloudly one time. Three lanes are for lap swimmers. The ceiling is a very high pitched cathederal ceiling with sunlights. This sometimes causes COLD condensation to come plopping down on a warm body! One side of the pool enclosure is all glass and looks out onto a private courtyard with chairs for sunning on nice days--the enclosure even gets warm enough in the early winter and spring to enjoy some fresh air. The street side windows are very high off the ground and frosted for privacy. There is a great hot tub in the pool area. The dressing rooms have both saunas and steamrooms. (imho these are necessities to ease achie muscles)
The worst thing about this pool 1) the lane lines and crosses on the sides are black tile, very pretty, but slippery... when turning my feet will occasionally slip, 2) the fan that moves the air around in the pool area is very loud and its hard to talk over/hear, 3) the deck surface can get a little bit slippery too 4) there aren't enough chairs/benches/hooks in the pool area to put towels, eye glasses, etc.
Like I said, its basic but compared to some of the horror stories in the Worst Pool thread I have nothing to complain about!
Lainey
