Training Pool Bucket List: 8 Unique Pools Around the World
The pools we train in are pretty universal. Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, they mostly consist of the same things. Picture the pool you train in daily, and I’m going to guess the basics. There’s probably a pool deck infested with various species of mold, starting blocks that make you question if you should’ve signed a waiver prior to utilization, funky colored lane lines, and a designated area for random kickboards, pull buoys, paddles, and fins to lay around. I don’t even have to ask, I know for a fact that I’m spot-on.
But hey, maybe I’m completely off. Maybe you train in an oceanside pool, or a pool that covers 1,000 meters in length. Today, we’ll be taking a look at a few of the most unique pools around the world. They are much different from the stereotypical moldy pool deck, life-threatening starting blocks pools that you typically see. If you happen to train in any of the pools on this list, you are one lucky person.
Bondi Icebergs Club – Sydney, Australia
You know I had to include this one, right? This pool is the first image that pops up when you Google “Unique pools around the world,” and rightfully so. Snuggled up next to the ocean, this pool provides an extraordinary experience. Visitors can enjoy the luxury of the pool while feeling the crash of waves from the ocean next door.
Alfonso Del Mar – Algarrobo, Chile
It wouldn’t be a proper article about admirable man-made water-filled holes in the ground if I left this one out, would it? Chile is home to one of the world’s largest swimming pools, standing at 1,013 meters/3,323 feet long. The water is pumped from the Pacific Ocean after it is filtered and treated, giving guests the opportunity to swim in the pool and gaze at the ocean view.
Homestead Resort – Utah
Like I said before, if you’re reading this, you probably either swim in an indoor or outdoor pool. But have you ever swam in an underground pool? Located in Utah at the Homestead Resort is a pool inside of the Midway Crater. Visitors can go swimming, snorkeling, scuba-diving, and even take a paddle board yoga class! It is also the only warm scuba-diving location in the continental United States. Grab your flashlights, kids!
Starkenberger Castle – Austria
This pool makes the list solely based on the assumption that your typical pool contains water. You know, like the element. H2O. The clear liquid that you also need to consume every day in order to survive. In the Starkenberger Castle, there are several pools for guests to use. However, they are not filled with the clear liquid H2O element that we all know and love. It is filled with beer. The alcohol’s carbonic acid stimulates circulation and ensures smooth skin. Rumor has it, Cleopatra bathed in beer for these benefits. So, go ahead. Splash around in the fermented starches and claim it’s for your health.
Photo Courtesy: Starkenberger Castle
Amdaeng Riverside Hotel – Bangkok
Standing on the pool deck, you stare your inevitable fate in the face as you prepare to hurl your body into the cold, blue water. If you’re at the Amdaeng Riverside Hotel in Bangkok, though, the water will actually appear red! Back in the old days, “Amdaeng” was used as a personal title for a lady. The love for the lady, combined with the love for living culture along the Chao Praya River and the love for art between Thai, Eastern and Western cultures, the hotel was created to worship these loves and beauty of the past, hence the vibrant red color.
Photo Courtesy: Amdaeng Resort
Kitsilano Pool – Vancouver
One of the longest pools in North America lies in Vancouver, Canada, measuring 137 meters or 450 feet long. It’s Vancouver’s only heated, outdoor, salt-water pool, retrieving it’s water from the Pacific Ocean. It can be used for lap swimming and recreational swimming, but regardless of how you use it, it never fails to feel like a tropical getaway with its white floors, turquoise water, and beautiful view of the North Shore Mountains and Vancouver city skyline.
Umaid Bhawan Palace – India
Whether you swim in a dungeon-like pool littered with mold and dangerous levels of chlorine, or the token pool for all of your local swim meets, it’s highly unlikely that your pool was literally built for royalty. Located in the Umaid Bhawan Palace is a stunning indoor pool, decorated with flower petals in the water and hand-painted murals by Polish artist Stefan Norblin on the walls. It was originally created to be a private sanctuary for many of India’s royal ladies.
Neptune Pool, Hearst Castle – San Simeon, California
Lady Gaga has swam in this pool. That’s how you know it’s for fancy pants people only. The 90-year-old Neptune Pool is one of the castle’s most eye-catching features, tiled with marble and surrounded by Italian sculptures. It was enjoyed by many Hollywood celebrities in the roaring 20s and 30s when Hearst hosted luxurious parties, and is now available for pricey reservations today.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter where you swim. Personally, I grew up swimming in a six-lane, moldy, stuffy, hot, overly-chlorinated pool. And now, I swim in a gorgeous outdoor pool with 11 lanes surrounded by palm trees. I longed for a fancier swimming environment for 10 years, but I’ve recently realized that it isn’t about where you’re swimming. It’s about who you’re swimming with. It’s about your love for the sport, and sharing your love for the sport with the people you love. And this can be done just as easily in a dirty puddle-for-a-pool as it can in the grandest, most beautiful pool in the world, my friend.
Just keep swimming, wherever it may be.