There has been much hype and enthusiasm over the building of a new pool in Athabasca. Unfortunately, I don’t share this enthusiasm, as I am part of a group of pool users who are disrespected and whose needs are disregarded by all levels of pool management.
I am referring to adult users of the pool, particularly lane swimmers. The pool schedule in regards to lane swim means absolutely nothing as it is constantly changed almost daily on the whim of pool management and staff. I have been a patron of this facility for 15 years and lane swimmers have never been disadvantaged to the extent they are now.
This is the only facility I know of where lane swim doesn’t mean lane swim. It may mean sharing the pool with the swim club, or lessons, or public swimmers. It may also mean sharing the pool with all the above groups at the same time and having only one lane, as was the case on June 13th despite the schedule saying three lanes. Four of us were expected to share one lane; I refused, hence my first warning and an invitation to express my “concerns” with lane swim.
Through the remainder of June, I simply tolerated the constant disruption of lane swim. The schedule was rarely ever followed. The last two weeks of July went okay, except for the fact you had to be ultra-flexible as the lane swim time had been reduced despite the fact we have several tri-athletes in this community. My final swim, as I have no plans to return, was August 2nd. Only two lanes were set for four swimmers, despite the schedule saying 5, and a mother and her two small children were permitted to occupy an area that should have been lanes. One child came to share the lane I was in. The guards took issue with me asking the child to stay to one side and I was asked to leave and was banned from all facilities for a week. For the past two weeks, I have gone to Westlock where lane swim means lane swim. There are always 6 lanes available including Saturday. The schedule is the schedule with weekly updates available online and for pickup. The new pool will only cater to a small segment of the population as adult swimmers are treated as a nuisance and an inconvenience by staff and management.
Connie Toft – Athabasca