Vancouver Aquatic Centre — Local services in Vancouver

I used to come here for two reasons. They have the only 50M lane swims in the evenings and it WAS somewhat accessible. At least three 50M lanes open all day, evenings whole pool opens for lanes for 1 hour, usually more. The pool is crazy busy all afternoon and evening. Seems like there are no capacity limits and there are no reservation systems for the city's indoor pools. People are super competitive, they cut you off, pass constantly, rather then move to a faster lane, swim over/under you, elbow, knee, kick, no lane etiquette. Has a huge dive tank area, open/public times differ from pool. Huge women's change rooms with smaller adult only area, floors are clean and dry, all the lockers work and you get your .25¢ back. Accessible : not accessible at times. Pool is 1 floor lower than lobby entrance so you need to use the elevator, but they keep it locked and make you wait for a lifeguard to be available to come up and unlock it. Earlier this year the elevator was out for 3 months. No one was in any hurry to fix it. You had to call the front desk to get them to radio a lifeguard, wait for them to be free to open the exit door and unlock the gate off the lower level parking lot. I'd redial 30 to 45 minutes each time before the front desk would answer. Most times the front desk person never answered and some random person who was working outside the gym would let me in. The pool itself is partially accessible with a staircase and a chairlift. No sloped/ramp entry. They have one accessible shower change room/washroom but it gets high use, so often have to wait. 0r be be forced to use the regular showers, but in the women's, good luck getting to use the one with the accessible bench. Able-bodied people will always stand in front of the bench blocking it using that one shower head when every other shower was available. Washrooms are fairly clean compared to most older community centers. The upgrades that have been budgeted and planned for cannot come quick enough for better accessibility. There is a seperate toddler pool open till 6pm. Whirlpool is kind of small, have a sauna too. *Note: There are frequent weekend pool closures when they host a swim meets. So check their website or call ahead for...

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre is both a hit and miss. I've been coming to this pool for lane swim training for the past two years now, here are my conclusions:

This facility seems to heavily prioritize classes and clubs. About 60% of the times that I've gone swimming, more than half of the pool is reserved for clubs and training associations. I more than support the presence of these clubs, however, I think the pool could do a better job at managing lanes, i.e. giving us one more lane back when the pool is very busy and clubs are also training at the same time. There have been many times where I feel as if the money I pay for my subscription is not equal to the quality of swimming I need and should have.

The facility is old, but this does not mean it is not clean. I truly like the mid 1970s architectural style and you do feel the history and athletic energy of this pool when you're there.

The lifeguards could be more attentive to swimmers who are swimming in lanes which they should not be in. There have been many times where a slow swimmer will be in a fast lane and be completely ignorant to the pace which you must maintain when in a faster lane. As such, the lifeguards can always nudge this person and suggest they move to a slower lane.

Monthly pricing and yearly subscriptions are at a good price point, not too high or too low either, it is around $53 for a one month subscription if I am not wrong. This gives you access to the pool, dive pool, sauna, hot...

50 meter pool. Temperature generally good for lane swimming. Lane swim are divided to open, slow, medium, fast, express (50m in less than 50s). Currently pool cleaning during weekdays is 9:00 - 9:30 and 15:30 to 16:00. Generally most quiet times are 10:30 - 1pm on weekdays (seen up to 5 to 6 per lane max), and late evenings for weekends (advice from lifeguard). Seems like an old pool but well maintained. Lifeguards seem friendly and alert and aware of what's happening (no experience on that front but they don't seem distracted and well coordinated). Free boards and leg buoys to use. There's also a small gym at one end of the pool with a small outdoor basketball hoop, a toddler pool, a decent hot tub, and a renovated dry sauna room.

Diving area: main pool is no diving (shallow both ends). There's a small pool adjacent for diving and has multiple heights. (10m, 5m, 3m, 1.5m I think)

Change rooms: 2 male and 2 female changes rings at either end of the pool, and a family change room in the middle. As a male I can only report that the one closer to the hot tub/gym is much smaller and dirtier (which is still fairly clean)

Lockers: ample lockers in the change rooms and some in the pool area. Bring quarters to use the lock, or bring your own lock. It is also coming for folks to bring their belongings to the deck and leave them at the bench at either...