OMG—Vancouver BC Aquatic Centers Rock

I know the Bay Area has public pools that are fairly cheap to visit but most of them are pretty old and very small.  In the Bay, you pay about $3.00 to swim in a 25 meter pool with about five or six lanes.  It’s pretty bare bones.  The locker rooms are from the seventies usually with old cracking tiles and showerheads that might or might not offer hot water.  The hours are also very limited.  I’m not complaining, just comparing.

This past weekend, my friends took me swimming at their neighborhood aquatic center--Hillcrest Park.  Seriously, our public pools are put to some serious shame.  You wonder why urban kids in the US don’t know how to swim?  Well if we offered them affordable and state of the art aquatic centers, we might be able to inspire them to learn.  No brainer right?

For $6.00 or less, BC folks have access to an indoor and outdoor Olympic size pools, a family pool, a diving pool, family hot pool, and more.   For my fellow mothers, there is even a family locker room and pack n play to hold your baby while you change. 

It’s an understatement to say that I was very impressed.  Maybe in a few generations, our public money will be spent on creating community centers such as this.