So I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for the new rec center up the road to open. I've been thinking how cool it will be... walk a mile and a half to the pool, work out, walk a mile and a half back... think of all of the calories burned! Think of the workout to be had!
Didn't really think they'd rip me off on the pool.
When they said "warm water fitness pool," I thought "25x25 pool warm enough to keep the blue hairs happy." I did not think "warm puddle just big enough to wave around your pool noodle." After all, all of the high schools in the area have swim teams and they use the rec center pools for practice. It would only seem logical to have a pool of an appropriate size to use for that purpose. Um, no.
What we have is a warm puddle (which I didn't even bother getting into) then we have a kiddie pool with all of the accompanying stuff to climb on, and then we have this "current area" (that's what they call it) which is sort of like a thin lap lane that winds around and through the kiddie area, and has a current to it, to add to your workout when you're walking around with your pool noodle.
Of course, sticking the "current" area in the middle of kiddie land makes absolutely no sense, being that the blue haired ladies don't like to get their hair wet... and being in the kiddie area ensures that you're going to get wet!
I was pondering the merits of trying to swim against the current, but it's not really a wide enough channel to pull that off. Not to mention that I'd probably get whacked with a noodle if I tried that.
Oh well, I guess I'll just go back to the old pool. At least it's quiet and generally noodle-free.
Hi Kirk:
No, they have not done that and will not do that. I have been running masters meets since 1985 there and its one of my main training pools in the summer. In fact this past year they built a new pump house which cost almost a million dollars so with that kind of investment spending it will be around for a while. I am very fortunate to train with a good group of swimmers there over the summers. This pool was the host of the 1979 Long Course Nationals, which was the last AAU Masters Nationals before USMS was a separate entity.
The other pool I train at had the biggest set of pools in the world when it was first built. Its called the Brennan Pools and its run by the City of Detroit. It was the host of the of the 1948, 1956, and 1960 US Olympic Trials. In fact this is where Jeff Farell swam after his operation and its covered in the book "Six Days to Swim". This also is the pool that Bill Mulliken qualified in to swim the 200 *** in the 1960 Olympics.
They have three 50 meter pools. One is used for recreation but can be used as a competitive pool and one is used strickly for competition. They both are 9 lanes wide with 7 foot lanes. The other pool is 50 meters but its 27 ft. deep and has 1, 3, 5, and 10 meter diving towers. I don't think these pools will ever be leveled because they have put major reconstruction in them and are used to the max. They are only open from mid June until the end of August. A lot of people might remember these pools because they used to host one of the largest AAU meets in the country called the Water Wonderland Meet. I think the meet stoped being held in the late 1970's.
Hi Kirk:
No, they have not done that and will not do that. I have been running masters meets since 1985 there and its one of my main training pools in the summer. In fact this past year they built a new pump house which cost almost a million dollars so with that kind of investment spending it will be around for a while. I am very fortunate to train with a good group of swimmers there over the summers. This pool was the host of the 1979 Long Course Nationals, which was the last AAU Masters Nationals before USMS was a separate entity.
The other pool I train at had the biggest set of pools in the world when it was first built. Its called the Brennan Pools and its run by the City of Detroit. It was the host of the of the 1948, 1956, and 1960 US Olympic Trials. In fact this is where Jeff Farell swam after his operation and its covered in the book "Six Days to Swim". This also is the pool that Bill Mulliken qualified in to swim the 200 *** in the 1960 Olympics.
They have three 50 meter pools. One is used for recreation but can be used as a competitive pool and one is used strickly for competition. They both are 9 lanes wide with 7 foot lanes. The other pool is 50 meters but its 27 ft. deep and has 1, 3, 5, and 10 meter diving towers. I don't think these pools will ever be leveled because they have put major reconstruction in them and are used to the max. They are only open from mid June until the end of August. A lot of people might remember these pools because they used to host one of the largest AAU meets in the country called the Water Wonderland Meet. I think the meet stoped being held in the late 1970's.
