Waterworld Wrexham

Early morning start with an action-packed day ahead! Left the house at 5am for a 90-minute drive to Wrexham, the town (now city) where I was born, for a swim. This visit has been high on my list—it's been 35 years since I last swam here! Thanks to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's incredible story of buying Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham's been making headlines recently.

The Waterworld pool first opened in 1967, was super-modern for its time and still holds up today. Its hyperbolic paraboloid roof (cheers, Wikipedia!) is an architectural standout that lifts the building from the ground.

Parked, paid, and headed onto the pool deck.

My memory of the pool painted it as a massive, bright space with high ceilings. Either my perception has shifted, or the pool has undergone significant changes! The 25-metre, six-lane lap pool is now joined to a play pool with water slides, bathed in light from floor-to-ceiling windows that feel almost cathedral-like. A boom splits the main pool to create a shallow learner pool - I think the original tank was 33.3m, and this change partly contributes to my memory of a much larger space.

It's early, but the pool is already busy, and I'm sharing a lane with several others. This isn't going to be a fast-paced session. Instead, I passed the time trying to work out what's changed. Were the slides and play pool there before? I remember diving boards and a deep diving pit—but they're gone. Did they turn the pool 90 degrees? I seem to recall swimming under those large peaked windows.

Surprisingly, I wrapped up a 4km swim at a 1:31 pace—not bad, given the traffic. Showered, changed, and grabbed a McDonald's breakfast before heading a few miles South of Wrexham for a nostalgic day fly fishing on the Welsh Dee at Bangor-on-Dee - complete with an equine audience of horses silently judging every cast! The river was high, and the fish were in short supply. Finished up a perfect day with a pint of Wrexham Lager at the Royal Oak next to the river and the medieval late 15th century Bangor Bridge.

Still curious about what's changed at the pool, a quick Google—and the Wrexham Leader had the answers. A major refurbishment in 1998 and reopened by the Queen transformed the iconic Wrexham landmark. I've included a 1970 photo of the pool that shows it as I remember it from the 1980s, a rare exception to my no-photo rule for pictures I didn't take. I sourced the photo from the Wrexham leader article, I'm happy to remove the image if the copyright owner wishes.

If you're ever in Wrexham, Waterworld is worth a visit—swimming in a piece of local history always adds a special touch! If you are an American tourist on the trail of the Wrexham story, head to my favourite restaurant, The Boat at Erbistock - I'll gladly meet you there for a larger Wrexham!