It is intended as a resource for those avid swimmers out there who want the low-down on where to go (and where not to go) for some acquatic action in our fair city.
FITSUGAR: OLYMPIC-INSPIRED MINI TRIATHLON GYM WORKOUT →
OK, so I now the Olympics are over (sad face), but here is a great way to keep their inspiring momentum going! Ric and tried this mini-triathlon workout about a week ago and we loved it (except for the part where you only have 3 minutes to get out of a sopping wet bathing suit and into sneakers for the bike ride). It’s quick and fun and you will definitely get your sweat on! It’s also a great first step toward doing the real thing…I will keep you posted on my progress toward that goal : )
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USC MCDONALD’S OLYMPIC SWIM STADIUM
MCDONALD’S OLYMPIC SWIM STADIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (USC)
ON THE UNIVERSITY PARK CAMPUS, PART OF THE LYON RECREATION CENTER
1026 W. 34th STREET (map)
LOS ANGELES, CA 90089
(NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF JEFFERSON AND VERMONT)
213.740.5127
http://sait.usc.edu/recsports/site_content/aquatics/rec_swim.html#rules
SWIM SCHEDULE*:
FALL /SPRING SEMESTERS
MON-FRI 6am – 8 am, 11am – 7pm
SAT-SUN 11am – 6pm
SUMMER BREAK
MON-FRI 6am – 8 am, 11am – 6pm
SAT-SUN 11am – 4pm
**Check the weekly calendar for special hours (FYI: it’s always closed during home football games)
OUTDOOR/YEAR-ROUND
COST: FREE FOR ENROLLED STUDENTS, STAFF AND FACULTY OF USC
GUESTS - $10/SINGLE-USE, $40/HALF-SEMESTER PASS,
$70/SEMESTER PASS, $200/YEAR PASS
The USC outdoor pool complex, also known as the McDonald’s (yeah, that McDonald’s) Swim Stadium, is where my swimming ‘career’ really began. I was a graduate student there for several years and after about 5 years I took up swimming as a way to deal with the madness of finishing my degree. Any distraction helps in a situation like that, and I figured, “I live in L.A. – I might as well take advantage of all this awesome weather, ‘cause who knows how long I will be here? I could end up with a job in Canada.” (Such is the life of the young academic.) I was also in desperate need of a work-out, and it had to be one that didn’t include massive amounts of running or jumping (due to a bummy leg).
So I recruited my good buddy Jody to navigate the vast Lyon Center Athletic Complex with me. A large university athletic facility is an overwhelming and scary place, with lots of different little areas and corridors and doorways and whatnot. It’s also generally swarming with sorority girls and frat boys and way too many IPOD-bedecked teenagers, so it’s nice to have an ally at first. But actually I found it to be really easy to maneuver through, and not long after I started going I got my solo routine down.
After signing up with the front desk at the entrance or showing your card, you pass through the turnstile. Immediately ahead on the left is the door to the women’s locker room (the men’s is just a bit further down the hall). Even though it is not super new, the locker room is big and they keep it quite clean. You can sign up for locker service for an additional fee if you are a member, but there are also day-use lockers (so bring your own lock). The showers are warm and there are lots of outlets, so you can get ready for your day there. I have never found it to be very busy, no matter what time of day.
The entrance to the pool is through the locker room. Just walk out the door right by the bathing suit dryer and you are on your way! A hot tub and sauna are the first two things you will encounter but stay motivated and pass on directly to the 2 pools. Yep, there are 2 heated pools – a diving pool, 25 x 25 yards with all the crazy diving platforms, and a 50 meter x 25 yard competition pool. Note that both are 6’7” in their respective shallow ends(!), so they are not pools for just hanging out or lounging in. In short, you’ve gotta know what you are doing (you also have to be 16 years old). Each pool is typically set up with 8 lanes a piece, though sometimes the competition pool is set up in a short-course style with more lanes. Honestly, you never really know what you’re gonna get in this place – most often lap swimming takes place in the dive pool, but sometimes they have long course only in the big pool and the dive pool is closed. It’s been a few years since I have swum here regularly so I don’t know if it’s still this way, but I’d imagine so. There is so much sporting activity at this pool – diving practice, swim team, guys’ water polo practice (a good time to be there, btw ladies) – I think they just adapt the conditions as they go. It makes things interesting, that’s for sure!
It’s a pretty busy place, especially in the morning, at lunch time and around the end of the work day, so be prepared to share a lane. Pull buoys, kickboards, fins and paddles are available for use and there are also deck chairs for laying out.
This pool has a lot of history to it: like the Argue Swim Stadium, this too was an Olympic complex, built for the 1984 games. It has also hosted several other national competitions over the years, and every year it hosts both the Janet Evans Invitational as well as the very popular ‘Swim with Mike’ charity event, which raises funds for physically challenged athletes. In 1989, a permanent bank of bleachers was built atop the exterior Lyon Center that seats up to 2000 spectators. The pool’s official website also proudly boasts of the “movable bulkhead” technology that keeps the water calm and the huge electronic scoreboard that was recently installed. All of this makes it a pretty serious environment in which to do recreational lap swim. But I think that what makes this pool really stand out in my mind is that it is where I first learned to love to swim.
An amazing blog about SWIMMING! →
I recently stumbled onto this wonderful blog by an Australian woman named Sally. I was looking for information on the 1932 Olympics to complement my most recent post on the Los Angeles Swim Stadium and I found a treasure trove of information here. It looks as though she’s been at it for years. What an impressive collection of data, insights and images! I definitely view this blog as something to aspire to! There haven’t been any postings yet as of this year, but there is plenty to sift through in the meantime. Awesome work, Sally! Please do keep it up. : )
![[1932+Olympic+swimming+ticket.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9XLvy7fDUKU/SLC9gdpta0I/AAAAAAAAGjg/WAvo-LntpGk/s1600/1932%2BOlympic%2Bswimming%2Bticket.jpg)
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LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium (aka Los Angeles Swim Stadium)
LA84 FOUNDATION/JOHN C. ARGUE SWIM STADIUM (AKA LOS ANGELES SWIM STADIUM)
PART OF THE EXPO CENTER AT EXPOSITION PARK
3990 S. MENLO AVE (map)
(NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF S. VERMONT AND W. MLK JR. BLVD.)
213.763.0129
http://www.laparks.org/expo/aquaticcenter.htm
LAP SWIMMING SCHEDULE (FOR JULY-SEPT 2010 – check website above for changes): MON-FRI: 10am - 4pm SAT-SUN: 1pm - 4.30pm LAP POOL - OPEN YEAR-ROUND / OUTDOOR / HEATED (50 meters x 25 yards) WADING POOL - OPEN YEAR-ROUND / OUTDOOR / HEATED (ZERO DEPTH, PLAY FEATURES) COST: $2.50 / $2.00 w/ library card (KIDS & SENIORS FREE) ADULT LAP PASS = $55 / 30 admissions ADULT HEALTH CLUB PASS = $45 / 3 months (INCLUDES POOL USE, FITNESS AND WEIGHT ROOMS)
This pool complex is a special place, a true - and truly overlooked - Los Angeles historical monument! The stadium was originally built for the 1932 Summer Olympics and its beautiful facade remains, though it now houses a modern public recreational facility, the largest in Los Angeles. A nice 2008 article from the LA Times chronicles its storied past. (From the mid 90s to 2003 it was abandoned to taggers and the homeless! I happen to know someone who wandered into the site in 2001 and claimed it was pretty sketchy.) Huell Houser also filmed this segment of California Gold in 1996 that features the Swim Stadium, pre-renovation. Weird!
The 120,000 square-foot structure’s renewal and remodel was completed in October 2004 at a cost of $30 million, according to Friends of Expo Center, and includes “The Ralph M. Parsons Preschool, The W.M. Keck Amphitheatre, The Ahmanson Senior Center, and the Roy A. Anderson Recreation Center, which features the LA84 John C. Argue Swim Stadium (50-meter pool, zero-depth recreation pool), two side-by-side gymnasiums, fitness center, weight room, meeting facilities, and a state-of-the-art computer lab.”
Then:
Now:
Enough with the history lessons, how is the swimming, you ask? Well, the short answer is: Fabulous! You just have to make it to the pool.
The entrance to the pool is through the front facade doors, on Menlo Street, which is probably also where you should park. Sometimes when it’s really busy in the summer they direct you around to the side entrance on the western end of the building, where there is a parking lot (of reserved spaces). When you enter there is a front desk, but you can bypass it and go directly through the turnstile to the swimming cashier window. After you buy a ticket (which you should take with you out to the pool) you can either go left to the women’s/girls’ locker rooms (note that these are 2 separate areas) or back around the front desk to the mens’/boys’ locker room on the opposite side.
The locker rooms are the best and cleanest I have seen at any public facility in LA. There are small and medium lockers (bring your own lock), or an attendant who will bag and tag your stuff. I can’t vouch for the men’s side, but in the women’s locker room there are two full showers, and several changing stalls (ditto for the girls). On the girls’ side there is also a vanity area with a counter, mirror, outlets and even a bathing suit centrifuge dryer! Fancy! Now for the warning: the locker area is at some point almost always filled with 12-16 year old girls and boys who are pretty lively and really loud. Its kind of amusing to be in that environment actually, but it can get a little hectic, especially on weekends and in the summer. So just make sure you are prepared for that possibility.
After exiting the back doors of the locker area, you will find yourself in a long corridor. Just proceed straight out the next set of doors and -poof- you are in the pool area, with the bleachers above you!
As you can see, the main pool is always divided into 2 areas: one for diving, water polo or kids playing, and the other is strictly for lap swim. (The recreational pool and a small shady grass area is beyond.) There are 8 short-course (25m) lanes and you hardly ever have to share! It is, quite suprisingly, a relaxed environment given the vastness of the space. Kickboards and pull buoys are available for use. You will definitely get a lot of sun exposure if you are here during mid-day, but after about 2pm the sun goes behind the building.
Another cautionary note: This pool is host to many swim meets and other acquatic events throughout the year, so scheduling issues can and do arise. If you aren’t a regular like myself, I’d suggest calling ahead to make sure there are no unexpected closures.
I’m not sure how else to say it: I LOVE THIS PLACE!
