Rotorua Aquatic Centre (Outdoor)

Took the hour long drive over from Taupo this morning to the sulphur heaven of Rotorua (it doesn't smell that bad!), planning a swim in their 50 m outdoor open all year round pool, then a bit of work before an afternoon walk around town. Set off early from Taupo in the pouring rain. The drive between the two is through some beautiful farm land, but it was hard to see much of it for the wall of spray on the roads. I headed straight to the pool for a swim first. I had checked the timetable and the outdoor pool was advertised as being 50 m until 1 pm, so I aimed to arrive at 11 am. I'm hoping this will be a two pool stop with the possibility of getting the indoor 25 m pool on the list as well.

First stop, receiption. NZ$4.50 has to be the best value I have seen yet at any paid for swim on this list. I followed the receptionist's instruction to head through to the indoor pool deck then through the glass doors to the outdoor pool deck. Hopes of a two-pool-swim were somewhat dashed as the indoor pool was hosting an inflatable aquapark, Oh well. Headed straight to the outdoor changing rooms. A very basic concrete setup, no lockers etc, but who cares, it is functional and the pool side cubbies seem to be the norm in NZ.

By the time I stepped back onto the pool deck it was raining pretty well and the 50 m, eight lane pool looked fantastic. The rain really adds to the effect. There was one guy in the pool, leaving a choice of seven lanes. I chose a middle lane and was about to jump in when the lifeguard noted they were about to move the boom to switch over to two 25 m pools. I was really hoping for a 50 m swim today. I asked if I could get 15 minutes to run through a 1 km in the 50 m setup first. He was cool with it and said he would start prepping the changeover. Now I wish I hadn't sat in the car for 10 minutes sorting a few emails before heading in. Bashed out a 1 km swim. I could see the lane ropes around me going slack then disappearing, but much to their credit the guys left the ropes in for my one single lane.

Finished the 1 km and jumped out thinking they needed to clear the pool to move the boom. In proper awesome Kiwi style the guard told me no problem, keep swimming, the lengths will just get shorter for ten minutes. I had already stopped the Garmin after the first 1 km and did not want to mess about with it while the pool changed length every lap, so I switched to some drills while they made the change. This is definitely a first. Anywhere in the UK the pool would be cleared, high vis vests donned, cones setout and flashing lights for such a huge project as a daily boom change. I had never thought about how they actually move the boom. Here, they attach an air compressor to a valve at one end that floats the boom, remove the metal pool steps, and attach dolly wheels and a handle to each end. Two guys then spend 10+ minutes pushing the boom slowly 25 m up the pool to the mid way mark before removing the dolly wheels and releasing the air to drop the boom in place.

Boom move done, I was now in the empty end of the pool and about to be joined by half a dozen guys in tri suits. I had just spent five minutes floating on my back enjoying the peacefulness of the sound of pouring rain on the pool surface but decided to hop over the boom to the newly formed 8 lane 25 m pool, which now had quite a few more swimmers. Started the watch again for swim part two and worked through a 10 x 100 m set.

Finished up and stuck my head around the door of the indoor pool. The colourful inflatable waterpark and hive of activity had vanished and the 25 m pool was now set up with lanes and nearly empty bar a few aquajoggers in their dedicated lane. Jumped in and made a start on a qualifying 1 km for the next pool on the list.