I'm currently in the process of putting together a committee to start planning for a new aquatic facility in our area. I'm asking all of you to help me make a list of the things that should go into a facility if you had unlimited resources and space. I want to start my project with the biggest dream possible and then have it brought back to earth by money limitations, etc.
What I'm looking for are comments about our own facilities features that work well, that you would never do again, that you would change, that you would do differently, and what you wish you could have. I want to hear from experience.... What makes your facility work so well or why you pool is the arm pit of pools. Here is an example:
I've learned from one pool that they should have built a permanent wall between their lap pool and their zero depth entry rec. pool. The building is so noisy they can barely run a meet if people are in the recreation pool. Don't leave anything untouched (pool size, deck space, configuration, locker rooms, office space, outdoor facilities, observation seating, etc.)
Our initial plan is to build a 50 meter indoor, with adjacent recreation pool, and an outdoor splash area for the hot summers. We are one mile above sea level and our winters go from October to May. I'm hoping all you can help with the things you have all learned from the many years we have been swimming.
Our therapy pool is kept at 87 - 89, and is close enough to the main pool that the aquarobes can hear the instructor and do the workout from the therapy pool. It gives the class members the option to choose their temperature, and cuts down on the complaints about the 82 degree main pool. It's about 3 1/2 - 4 feet deep, comparable to the shallow end of the main pool -- which is too shallow for a dedicated competition pool. But a deeper pool would limit the aquarobes to the therapy pool, and some of those folks who are able to work hard would then overheat. There are always tradeoffs, unless you have the budget to build multiple pools, each dedicated to a specific purpose.
I had an opportunity to swim at the Federal Way facility for NW Zones a couple of weeks ago. Very, very nice pool facility, designed pretty much as Kirk suggests. The main tank was nice and cool, and the dive pool was substantially warmer and used as the cool down pool.
Mildly amusing aside: At Zones, I jumped into the dive well to cool down after a race, and just let myself drift down thinking about the race. My usual pool's deep end is about 8 feet, and I guess I usually just bounce off the bottom and up. Federal Way's dive tank is 16 feet deep, and I just headed down. I ended up down about 12 feet before I realized I hadn't hit bottom, was down a ways, and really had no breath. Had to claw my way to the surface gasping for air. It would have been more than a little humiliating to have to be rescued from the cool down pool!
Our therapy pool is kept at 87 - 89, and is close enough to the main pool that the aquarobes can hear the instructor and do the workout from the therapy pool. It gives the class members the option to choose their temperature, and cuts down on the complaints about the 82 degree main pool. It's about 3 1/2 - 4 feet deep, comparable to the shallow end of the main pool -- which is too shallow for a dedicated competition pool. But a deeper pool would limit the aquarobes to the therapy pool, and some of those folks who are able to work hard would then overheat. There are always tradeoffs, unless you have the budget to build multiple pools, each dedicated to a specific purpose.
I had an opportunity to swim at the Federal Way facility for NW Zones a couple of weeks ago. Very, very nice pool facility, designed pretty much as Kirk suggests. The main tank was nice and cool, and the dive pool was substantially warmer and used as the cool down pool.
Mildly amusing aside: At Zones, I jumped into the dive well to cool down after a race, and just let myself drift down thinking about the race. My usual pool's deep end is about 8 feet, and I guess I usually just bounce off the bottom and up. Federal Way's dive tank is 16 feet deep, and I just headed down. I ended up down about 12 feet before I realized I hadn't hit bottom, was down a ways, and really had no breath. Had to claw my way to the surface gasping for air. It would have been more than a little humiliating to have to be rescued from the cool down pool!
