This may or may not have been discussed in the past but I am wondering what are people's favorite pools. Which one is your all time favorite to practice in and to race in.
My favorite practice pool was The Baylor School's old 6 lane, 25 yard pool. I think the deepest part of the pool was 4 1/2 feet. Shallow, really wavy and crowded. I knew if I swam fast in that pool, either in duel meets or practice, I could swim fast anywhere else.
My favorite pool for big meets is the Tracy Caulkins pool in Nashville. We would go to our LCS and State Championships. The pool is fast. When you dove in, you would get pysched to race in the pool.
What about others? Would love to hear about other pools.
Thanks!
John
One of the greatest Aquatic Centers ever built was Mission Bay located in Boca Raton, Florida. I believe they opened in 1986 and was run by millionare owner Jim Brady. The Aquatic Center had two 50 Meter Pools next to each other in a North/South direction and also had a 25 yard training pool which I believe was 8 lanes. Plus a state of the art Diving well which I believe was either 25 meters long and 25 meters wide. They had exercise rooms, gyms, and reabilitation centers. They had one of the best teams in the country called the Mission Bay Makos who won nine National Championships in 3 years.
They were coached by Mark Schubert who also helped design the Aquatic Center and at that time it was the most comprehensive Aquatic Center in the world. They also had Ron O'brien as the Diving coach and both were hired away from Mission Viejo. I used to work out there a lot on vacations because my grandmother lived in Boca Raton at the time. They had the USMS Short Course Nationals in 1989 so I know a lot of USMS swimmers remember.
One of the things that always struck me about the facility was that it was built with private money, namely Brady and had to rely on the swimming population for funds and they had no tax base or university funds like other facilities for operating. They had as large if not larger seating capacity than ISHOF facility and the place was just huge. They were open about 6 to 7 years and then went bankrupt. It was a real shame because they filled in the two 50 meter pools and made them into a tennis center. One of the selling points of the facility was for people to buy a home in the development subdivision behind the Aquatic Center. This apparently did not work.
Nick Bolettieri, the famous tennis coach bought the place in bankrupcy with partners but then they went bankrupt years later. I went by the place about 8 years ago and saw that they only had the training pool left from the original pools built. They still had the tennis courts but the place looked run down.
Most of the masters team coached by Judy Meyer ended up in the new facility south of there called Coral Springs which will host this years USMS Short Course Championship.
One of the greatest Aquatic Centers ever built was Mission Bay located in Boca Raton, Florida. I believe they opened in 1986 and was run by millionare owner Jim Brady. The Aquatic Center had two 50 Meter Pools next to each other in a North/South direction and also had a 25 yard training pool which I believe was 8 lanes. Plus a state of the art Diving well which I believe was either 25 meters long and 25 meters wide. They had exercise rooms, gyms, and reabilitation centers. They had one of the best teams in the country called the Mission Bay Makos who won nine National Championships in 3 years.
They were coached by Mark Schubert who also helped design the Aquatic Center and at that time it was the most comprehensive Aquatic Center in the world. They also had Ron O'brien as the Diving coach and both were hired away from Mission Viejo. I used to work out there a lot on vacations because my grandmother lived in Boca Raton at the time. They had the USMS Short Course Nationals in 1989 so I know a lot of USMS swimmers remember.
One of the things that always struck me about the facility was that it was built with private money, namely Brady and had to rely on the swimming population for funds and they had no tax base or university funds like other facilities for operating. They had as large if not larger seating capacity than ISHOF facility and the place was just huge. They were open about 6 to 7 years and then went bankrupt. It was a real shame because they filled in the two 50 meter pools and made them into a tennis center. One of the selling points of the facility was for people to buy a home in the development subdivision behind the Aquatic Center. This apparently did not work.
Nick Bolettieri, the famous tennis coach bought the place in bankrupcy with partners but then they went bankrupt years later. I went by the place about 8 years ago and saw that they only had the training pool left from the original pools built. They still had the tennis courts but the place looked run down.
Most of the masters team coached by Judy Meyer ended up in the new facility south of there called Coral Springs which will host this years USMS Short Course Championship.
