Vancouver Aquatic Centre

Walked over from the Hilton Vancouver, stopping by a laundrette to drop off my washing—note to self: must not forget to collect it later!

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre is right on Sunset Beach, just off English Bay, and even has its own ferry stop! It’s a massive 1970s-style building, featuring a 50m pool and an adjacent diving pit with boards up to 10m.

The pool is set up with eight 50m lanes, but the markings suggest it’s often used in a short course format with up to 20 lanes—impressive, given there’s no sign of a movable boom. The pool deck feels huge and airy, with great lighting. I headed to the lanes near the diving pit, where they’ve got slow, medium, fast, and express lanes. The express lane board spells out a required pace of 50 seconds per 50m — love this clarity!

Worked through a 2km swim at a 1:38 pace (49 seconds per lap!); The pool wasn’t too busy, but I did share the lane with a few others, so then switched to 100s to pick up the pace. Finished with a solid 3km session.

The whole setup reminded me of the 50m Olympic pool in Auckland, New Zealand. Interestingly, the original pool on this site opened in 1928 and lasted 46 years before being replaced by the current one, which turns 50 this year. Rumour has it there are plans to close and rebuild it. If the new pool lives up to this one—and qualifies as a “new pool” for my list—I’ll definitely be back in a few years!