Swimming and why we need another competition pool
I love swimming! It offers a fantastic full body workout with little to no impact on bones and joints. Because of this, absolutely anybody can partake in water-based exercise. So there’s no excuse such as having a bum knee or needing a hip replacement to keep you from enjoying exercise in a pool.
And there are lots of pool-based exercise options to choose from locally. At the Kroc Center, there’s Masters Swimming, a Tri swim group and a dizzying variety of water aerobics classes with names like Aqua 360 Burn, Aqua Zumba, Hydromaniacs, Aqua Boot Camp, Hydrofighter and Cardio Blast, just to name a few. If group exercise is not your thing, you can also find an open swim lane to swim by yourself or walk against the current in the lazy river. My personal favorite is the Morning Tri Swim. It’s a great workout and sometimes my lane is almost entirely taken up by health care professionals. What could be better than doing timed 500s and also learning the finer points of bronchoscopy?
And that’s only what’s available at the Kroc Center. There are also pool-based exercise classes at other facilities such as SafeSplash/SwimLab, where they offer PiYoChi classes (a fusion of pilates, yoga and tai chi in the water). I stopped in there recently with my 14-year-old daughter, Nina, to try out their SwimLab, a tank with moving water that has mirrors and underwater cameras to allow 360 degree views and videotaping to improve technique along with their personalized coaching. I jumped in the tank first, and after being videotaped I was told that my hands are like two stop signs, slowing me down with each stroke as they enter the water at the wrong angle. Nina, who swims for CAST (Coeur d’Alene Area Swim Team) got in next. As she started swimming the coaches just kept sighing, “Ah … yes” and “so … nice” as if they’d just taken a sip from the most delicious cup of coffee ever. In the end, we both got helpful feedback and drills to work on improving our efficiency in the water.
The only problem with indoor swimming locally is the lack of pool availability. The Kroc Center pool, the only competition pool in our area, statistically is one of the busiest in the nation. Practically speaking, you can tell because even if you show up at zero dark thirty in the morning you have a hard time finding an open lane. Masters swimming recently expanded from three days to five days per week because the lanes were too crowded. And in addition to all their aquatic programming, the Kroc also accommodates CAST, Water Polo teams and high school swimming for Lake City, Post Falls and CHS, who all need dedicated pool time. Even outside of the Kroc Center the need for more pools is evident. When Dawn Deren opened SafeSplash/SwimLabs almost three years ago, she staffed it for 250 clients. Instead she was immediately flooded (pun intended) with over 900.
A quick Google search reveals that, according to the National Park and Recreation Association, a community should have one pool per 20,000 people. With an estimated population of 180,000, Kootenai County is seriously under-resourced in terms of community pools. Building the Kroc Center was a signature achievement of our community and one of its proudest moments, but is it time to consider adding another pool to this awesome facility? Also, with rapid growth occurring in Post Falls and to the north, perhaps a dedicated aquatic center located elsewhere in Kootenai County could ease our pool shortage woes.
THE GOOD: Whether you want to join the Masters Swim team, do a pool-based exercise class or swim on your own, swimming offers an amazing low impact aerobic workout.
THE BAD: If you don’t know how to swim, it’s never too late! In addition to our community’s amazing third grade swim program, there are learn-to-swim classes available for all ages at both the Kroc Center, SafeSplash and elsewhere.
THE NITTY GRITTY: This past June, a new eight-lane competition pool with a six-lane warm-up pool, the Idaho Central Aquatic Center (ICAC), opened its doors to the Treasure Valley. So if they can do it down in Boise, why can’t we build another aquatic center here?
• • •
Dr. Emry is a family physician and partner at Ironwood Family Practice in Coeur d’Alene. Exercise Explorer MD will appear every other week in The Press and Dr. Emry can be contacted via email exercisexplorermd@gmail.com. © 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license.
Dr. Geoff Emry