As part of the 2018 summer refurbishment, the pool was redesigned to install new lane rope holders and receivers. These gave the flexibility to have two, three or four lanes.
With three lanes during selected adult lane swimming times now available, a lane could be reserved for walking and hydrotherapy, one for mixed strokes and one a front crawl only lane.
At one end of the pool there are graduated walk in steps. These now have hip height hand rails to give support when entering and leaving the water. At the other end is a traditional climb in ladder. With two shallow ends, the pool is ideal for exercising.
Designed for those recovering from injury or surgery or simply wanting the benefits of water resistance while walking, a practice in common in the Southern Hemisphere.
Pool boss Dave Perry:
” I went to New Zealand last year and every pool I visited had loads of people just walking. Here we have plenty of times during the day when adults can come in and use the pool to practice their hydrotherapy exercises, but nothing before or after work. We will experiment on a few sessions and see how it works”
Writing for the International Journal of Sport and Health Science, an article by Mitsumasa Miyashita from the University of Tokyo, details the benefits of walking in water,
- Water’s buoyancy reduces the impact on joints.
- Working out in water can help improve cardiovascular fitness, balance and range of motion.
- Heated pools can help soothe pain.
- Water also has greater resistance than air, which means walking in water requires more effort and ultimately burns more calories than walking on land.
In the conclusion he states that, particularly in the older generation, symptoms of frailty such as slow walking speed can be alleviated, aerobic capacity and cognitive function improved.
A full read of the article is available here:
To see the full time table click here