Poll: Is this the worst pool in America?

Why, you children are spoiled rotten! :cane: Let me tell you my Dickensian tale of aquatic neglect and woe. When I swam for my high school swim team in Texas in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s we drove to a pool across down every day for practice. In the winter a gigantic plastic/latex bubble was put over the pool in order to keep it heated. The bubble was moldy and discolored, and probably a nesting place for every allergen known to man. I doubt it was ever cleaned once during the years it “protected” us from the elements. Enormous fans worked day and night to keep the bubble inflated. There was an outer door and inner door; to open both at once would cause a monstrous gust of wind as huge amounts of air escaped the bubble all at once; children would literally be tossed aside by the sudden gale. Every so often the pool staff would shock the pool with massive amounts of chemicals. One day I began the workout with a navy blue swimsuit; I ended it with a light gray suit, the color literally being stripped off it by the toxic chemicals that had been dumped in the water. Our coach forced us to swim anyway and we were sick for days thereafter, hair brittle and discolored, reeking of chlorine. Our "dressing room” was a concrete cage with sizable gaps between the roof and walls. When it rained there was standing water on the floor, and in the winter we would freeze. The occasional rat would saunter by. The pool and the locker room were clearly not made with year-round use in mind; dressing there was real adventure. A few years after I graduated I am told part of the bubble literally tore off and floated through the air to the street. If that is true I wish I had been there. I would have enjoyed raising a maniacal laugh of victory, shaking my fist in defiance as the wretched plastic bubble floated serenely away. That’s assuming of course I avoided being knocked unconscious from the sudden mad rush of air hurling me to the ground. Opposing teams would arrive at our pool for a meet and it was interesting to gauge their reaction upon entering; think Luke Skywalker the first time he saw the Millennium Falcon. Except our pool could not go .5 past light speed, and could not make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. In fact some of us were convinced the pool was some strange distance; not exactly 25 meters but not 25 yards either – we seemed to swim times there we never swam anywhere else. I know…the only thing missing from my account is that we had to walk uphill both ways. :blah: Despite the above I consider my high school swim experience to be basically positive. My town was a football town, first and last, and I should feel blessed we had a team at all. It kept me in the water until I became a Masters swimmer when I truly learned to love the sport.

Why, you children are spoiled rotten! :cane: Let me tell you my Dickensian tale of aquatic neglect and woe. When I swam for my high school swim team in Texas in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s we drove to a pool across down every day for practice. In the winter a gigantic plastic/latex bubble was put over the pool in order to keep it heated. The bubble was moldy and discolored, and probably a nesting place for every allergen known to man. I doubt it was ever cleaned once during the years it “protected” us from the elements. Enormous fans worked day and night to keep the bubble inflated. There was an outer door and inner door; to open both at once would cause a monstrous gust of wind as huge amounts of air escaped the bubble all at once; children would literally be tossed aside by the sudden gale. Every so often the pool staff would shock the pool with massive amounts of chemicals. One day I began the workout with a navy blue swimsuit; I ended it with a light gray suit, the color literally being stripped off it by the toxic chemicals that had been dumped in the water. Our coach forced us to swim anyway and we were sick for days thereafter, hair brittle and discolored, reeking of chlorine. Our "dressing room” was a concrete cage with sizable gaps between the roof and walls. When it rained there was standing water on the floor, and in the winter we would freeze. The occasional rat would saunter by. The pool and the locker room were clearly not made with year-round use in mind; dressing there was real adventure. A few years after I graduated I am told part of the bubble literally tore off and floated through the air to the street. If that is true I wish I had been there. I would have enjoyed raising a maniacal laugh of victory, shaking my fist in defiance as the wretched plastic bubble floated serenely away. That’s assuming of course I avoided being knocked unconscious from the sudden mad rush of air hurling me to the ground. Opposing teams would arrive at our pool for a meet and it was interesting to gauge their reaction upon entering; think Luke Skywalker the first time he saw the Millennium Falcon. Except our pool could not go .5 past light speed, and could not make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs. In fact some of us were convinced the pool was some strange distance; not exactly 25 meters but not 25 yards either – we seemed to swim times there we never swam anywhere else. I know…the only thing missing from my account is that we had to walk uphill both ways. :blah: Despite the above I consider my high school swim experience to be basically positive. My town was a football town, first and last, and I should feel blessed we had a team at all. It kept me in the water until I became a Masters swimmer when I truly learned to love the sport.