Aquatic Springs Indoor Pool

Not feeling 100% today, but swimming is usually the solution to most things, so head back over to West Las Vegas to Aquatic Springs Indoor Pool. When they add 'indoor' to the title, that usually suggests there is also an outdoor pool. I have an inkling what this one might be.

Check the pool timetable on the Clark County website and head to the morning session that runs until midday. Follow Apple Maps and arrive at a huge parking lot sitting in front of a waterpark, and in National Lampoon's style, it’s almost empty. Pass by the closed parking huts with their $10 parking signs and make a quick loop of the car park. To the right of the waterpark entrance there is a building that looks almost certainly like a swimming pool. The small sign above the door confirms it, but there is no one around.

Grab my bag and head to the door, absolutely certain the timetable is wrong and it is closed.

The Cowabunga Canyon waterpark looks great, and it is now quite obvious why this is named the 'indoor' pool.

The doors open and I’m welcomed in by the girl behind reception. Pay the bargain Las Vegas $3 entry fee, sign the waiver form, then head to the changing room and out to the pool deck, where I’m certain I’m going to have an entire pool to myself.

Out onto the pool deck and, to my surprise, there are quite a few swimmers. Over the course of my swim I notice most people just walk over from the nearby housing estate. The 50m pool is carved up into 25 yard lanes, with a second shallow pool at the far end. The first thing that stands out is the incredible number of lifeguards, one on each side of the pool and another watching the shallow pool.

The next thing I notice is the boom box playing a fantastic playlist, from Ozzy, to Stone Temple Pilots, to Nirvana, with a sprinkle of Creed. Perfect.

Pick a lane towards the far end of the pool, jump in and make a start. The water is again super cold. I’m pretty sure Las Vegas city pools are unheated, which you would probably expect for $3 a swim, and I do like the cold water.

Work through a starting 1600 yards, then split out into 150 yard sets.

There is a lot of floating at the pool end today. Still not feeling right, so try a bit of flotation therapy while eagerly waiting for the next track. It’s during one such break that I notice we are suddenly on a Metallica loop, and my new favourite lifeguard, who looks every bit the mid-90s typical American kid with a haircut I once knew well, calls out to the office to skip the song and get out of the loop.

About those lifeguards. Throughout the swim, I notice they rotate at a quick pace. I also see other lifeguards in the water running laps in T-shirt and shorts under instruction. It then occurs to me that it’s the Friday before Memorial Day, and they are training new lifeguards ready for the waterpark opening.

Swim done, head back to the changing rooms and notice something I don’t think I’ve seen before, a climbing wall hanging over the edge of a pool. Quite neat.

Time to head back to the hotel. Plan for the afternoon is to spend a few hours around the swimming pool reading, seeing as I’m paying the cheeky Hilton $25. The list of things you get for your money is comical, especially when they post WiFi as one of the highlights. It’s almost unusable in every part of the building.

Anyway, not having that argument with them again.