Building the best pool facility possible...

Oh, where to begin. One thing to do is to first separate out all of the different use cases for the pool, and then make lists of important items for each of those different use cases. Some use cases: * General recreational swimming * Swim lessons * Club (USS/Masters/etc.) training/workout * College training/workout * Diving club training/workout * Water polo training/workout * Synchronized swimming training/workout * "Normal" in-season competition, for swimming, water polo, diving, synchro * "Championship" competition, for swimming, water polo, diving, synchro Each of those use cases puts different pulls on your facility. Some things off the top of my head: * Spectator seating. I would advocate making the spectator area quite separate from the pool deck, with a few access points from the pool deck, which are easily regulated (with a door or a person, etc.). * Concessions. Build a space with a concession stand in mind. This includes requirements for refrigeration, secure storage (so people don't steal candybars between sessions), and lots of electrical (to power a pizza oven, microwave, hot dog steamer, and coffee pot). * Lots of lighting that can be varried. I.e., you'll want more light during competition, but during other times, less light. * A good, high fidelity, sound system. It needs to work well for both voice and music. You should have appropriate mic inputs in more places than you ever think you'll need them. And include line-level inputs in appropriate places (such as a timing control area), where you can directly connect a sound source, or a mixer, etc. * Lots of electricity. Obviously on appropriate ground fault circuits. But lots of different circuits so you can spread the trip risk around and not lose everything. * Think of running a big meet - you'll need some space that is accessible from the deck for meet operations, timers meetings, officials meetings, etc. Meet operations stuff should be enclosed and air conditioned, but with high visibility to the pool deck. This should have lots of power. * Cable pulls. Wherever you're running cables, run big fat conduits, bigger than you'll ever need, with cable pulls in them, so you can pull more cable later. * Network/internet. These days, more and more are running networked versions of meet manager, and posting results online immediately, etc. Need internet and network connectivity everywhere. * Storage. It's impossible to have too much storage at a pool. Consider making some or all of your storage climate-controlled, especially humidity-controlled. I.e., if you'll have lots of touchpads and other electronic equipment, you'll want to store them in a dry location, which is hard to find in a pool. Allocate tons of compartmentalized space, so that everything can have a home, and different things can be locked up by different people. * However much deck space you have, it is never enough. Make more deck space. And buy portable seating platforms for teams to sit on for those big meets. * When running a meet, big or small, you need a place to post results, heat sheets, etc. Tile walls work well for this. Painted walls don't. Anywhere you have wall space, make it tiled so it can be taped on, and not a painted surface or other 'fragile' surface. * Your locker rooms aren't big enough. Still not. * Design the building so there is a way straight onto the pool deck without going through the locker rooms. This pathway should be controllable, either with a locked door, or a person, etc. * Pace clocks. Invest in some digital ones that are all synchronized. (We use wireless DAktronics pace clocks.) Put them at every corner of the pool, facing both directions for super high visibility. * Hospitality. Where would you put a hospitality area for coaches at a big meet? Those are just some thoughts off the top of my head. -Rick

visit the UT swim center and other great pools around the country put it in a spacious building have overflow gutters make it 60 meters by 25 meters deep is good spacious locker rooms

What a great list of suggestions ? I wish we were building a pool too ! Reading this discussion I see two recurring themes: 1. Know your customer-base with your community, region, state and within national organizations and highlight what you are building to address these customer needs and know the revenue that each of these generate: a. competitive swimming program (78-80 F water) i. USA Swimming - rentals & usages ii high school championships iii USMS and our nationals* *You might asked our USMS Championship committee on the standards used to evaluate pools toward hosting our nationals, and be sure to exceed them ! b. recreational swimmers (80-83 F water) including lap swimmers, some triathletes and other miscellaneous groups like daycare kid, home school programs, etc. c. water aerobic/exercise ( 81-84 F water) d. hydrotherapy (need 87+ F water) 2. Spending a little more money up front will create a lot of opportunities if your facility can meet these customer needs, as you will attract more usagage. Lots of details like lockerroom, access, deck space, adjoining room, built-in pace clocks, scoreboards, spectator seating, equipment room for computer system, designs for touch pads on bulkhead, desired width and depth of pool, diving equipment, etc... Best of luck sythnesizing these ideas into a master plan (which may get cut down into your budget eventually).

Being an “Aquaphile”, I’ve always been interested in the design of luxury bathrooms, swimming facilities, and the issues associated with water quality. On the subject of what features should be incorporated into a new pool, I know of a simple device that can make a really great contribution to keeping recreational water clean. The “Bidet” is a “personal hygienic appliance” that mounts in place of a toilet seat and it works like a miniature shower that focuses an aerated stream of mild soap and warm water at your bottom area: www.washlet.com/default.asp I installed one in my bathroom and I use it prior to getting in my hot tub. Because of the very thorough washing action of the bidet, I can use much less chemicals in the tub and still keep the water in sparkling clean condition. A bidet can be economically incorporated into the restroom facilities of both new and existing pools. Happy Swimming :p Dolphin 2

One more thing to consider, lay out the grandest plan you can come up with and select a site if possible that that plan can be built on. Then scale the plan back to your budget and build the facility so that in the future the things you did not have the money for can be easily added on, a modular concept. Do you really need a 50 meter pool? Will you be running that many meets to really need that lenght and everyday expense (additional life guards/chemicals/water/light/electric) Does your area already have fitness centers with raquattball courts, dance room ect. These extras are a lot cheaper to build then a extra 25 meters of pool .If this is a public or community pool you may serve needs better with a 25 yd by 25 meter pool and a couple of raquattball courts and a exercise machine treadmills ect area. Any pool can be added on to later at the shallow end if its planned that way. Dont forget the kitchen food area even if its a mini kitchen ,big locker rooms,pool windows lots of hot water and make it a bright well lighted pool. dimmly lit pools give the place a dank look. And for a grand pool I agree with Ande about the 60 meters lenght. That way you can have one of those moveable dividers set up for meets at 50 meters from the deep side so the shallow end 30 plus feet away can be 3.5 feet and the start can be 4.5 or maybe 5 feet deep. When the meets over the divider moves to the deep end/shallow end area.

Poor planning is better than no planning at all when it comes to pools. I live in Champaign/Urbana Illinois. Our swimming situation is a real mess. The only indoor pool in Urbana, a city of about 37,000 has been down since late summer. the high school guys team is swimming at a pool in an appartment complex owned by the univberisty. The Univeristy of Illinois is here. No men's swim team. Its large fitness center is going through a huge remodelling. But if you aren't affliated with the univeristy, it is extremely expensive to swim ther. Champaign, about 65,000, has no indoor public pool. There are pools that are used for the high schools. The Y is a shame. there is mold growiing inthe men's ocker room. to swim there is to be punished. Now some people want to build a 50 meter indoor pool. It will take every dime avaiable to build it. Everyone thinks that the university should get involved. I know that from a grad class I took on rec management, the idea of getting many organizaitons & governmental bodies together is great if it works. But when it doesn't work (as is the case inUrbana), it is ure diasater. I also think that if public money is going to go to build the pool, then the pool is mandated to be available to all. Even those who can't afford ot pay for using it!

My frame of reference is the great facility I am fortunate enough to swim at regularly at the University of Maryland, College Park (see www.terrapinmasters.org/crc.jpg for a nice picture of the competition pool). Pool-wise, we have 2 indoor pools: a 52 meter by 25 yard competition pool (2 moveable bulkheads, 8 to 15 feet deep, 1 & 3 meter springboards at the deep end) and a 25 meter by 25 yard rec pool (~4 feet deep). Outdoor is a 25m x 25 y L shaped pool, and separate Mushroom pool - which is awesome, by the way. back inside... Deck space is plentiful. One thing about this is that the deck is wide enough that should any meet ever run the 25 yard width of the pool, folks camped out on the sides of the pool can get far enough away from all the splashing. There are a pair of wet/dry classrooms on deck for hospitality, officials during meets; and lifeguard class, swim classroom instruction, etc. during the week. Natural Lighting... The link above shows the HUGE windows. They face northward, so not much direct sunlight, but there is plenty of daylight coming in. Even though we're indoors, at least we get to see what is going on outside (they also provide a good view of the bad weather, aka the Sept. 2001 Tornado that ran through the forest behind the pool). Air/Temps. The locker rooms can get a bit nipply at times, but the pool deck is never humid. Always bearable in short or long sleeve t's. Comp pool temp is good for swimmers, the rec pool is good for the folks who like to swim in shower water temps. And aside from deck cleanings, I never smell any chemicals in there. In general, have in mind what kind of programs and events you are looking too have at your facility. UMD does not have diving platforms and a tower, and its probably one of the main reasons why Baltimore/DC couldn't get serious with the 2012 Olympic Bid. If you're going to have a lot of learn to swim, scuba, aerobics, etc classes, make sure there is plenty of storage space for their equipment, along with all the lane ropes, touch pads, blocks, etc. that you use for competitive swimming. Good luck and let us know how it goes!:banana:

Thanks everyone for all your help. I'm compiling and making list for our next meeting. I'll keep all of you posted as to how the meetings are going and what our facility will be like....