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.
Post with 5 notes
WESTWOOD POOL
1350 SEPULVEDA BLVD. (map)
(South of Wilshire, part of the Westwood Recreational Complex)
LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
310.478.7019
http://www.laparks.org/dos/aquatic/facility/westwoodPool.htm
SUMMER LAP SWIM SCHEDULE (until 9/18, check website above for updates!)
MONDAY 9am - 12.45pm, 6 - 9pm
TUES-FRI 6.30am - 12.45pm, 6 - 9pm
SATURDAY 9am - 12.45pm
SUNDAY 10am - 12.45pm
YEAR-ROUND / INDOOR / HEATED (81-83 degrees)
25 meters x 25 yards (10 x 10 lanes), 3-16 ft. depth, diving board
COST: $2.50 / $2.00 with LA library card
$55 pass for 30 admissions
FREE FOR CHILDREN / SENIORS / ADAPTIVE
First off, apologies for the lack of active posting on my part - I know it’s summer and therefore crucial swim time, but it is also the only season when I am able to take off on an annual west-coast road trip! As you might imagine, I had some fantastic hot springs experiences that I intend to chronicle in the near future. But today I plan to discuss a horse of an entirely different color. That horse is the Westwood Pool - a place I’m sure you’ve driven past a million times but somehow never noticed as you trudged down Sepulveda in rush hour traffic. (That’s also because the entrance to the pool is on the “back” side of the building, adjacent to a huge park - FYI.)
Now, to continue the metaphor, I love horses, but this is no Lipizzaner stallion. It’s more like one of those horses attached to a carriage in Central Park - cute but haggard, seemingly made for a life of work. And work is probably all that you will want to do here. But before we get to that, let’s begin with the locker rooms.
As you can see, no frills here. It’s a little old, but I must confess, I’ve seen worse at other city pools. What’s different is the panopticon shape of the changing stalls - the attendant (who works on the safety-pin system) can see everything that is going on, as can everyone else – no curtains, my ladies! The showers are especially antiquated, but in a way that actually works out well, since they are faucet and not push-button. There were also several signs saying “don’t do this or that”, including a number that indicated no shaving or razors were allowed. I shuddered briefly as I imagined the situation that had prompted such a forceful display of concern…
But anyway, on to the pool itself! It’s pretty much a glorified garage: built in 1998, it’s a corrugated roof on a box with a few sets of bleachers. And yet, it gets the job done. My initial reason for coming here was that it has a wide range of lap swim hours, until 9pm(!) on weekdays, which is really nice in the winter. There are pull buoys and kickboards too. Of course, as a year-round city pool, a lot of other stuff is happening here at the same time: swim lessons, aqua jogging and, most importantly, SCAQ masters swim at 5.30am, 12pm and 7pm. What this means is that it is BUSY (though more in the fall/winter than in the summer). I’ve heard that the AM session is (overly) plentiful with bodies and I know that at night you can expect 3-4 people per narrow-ish lane by 7.30pm. In other words, if this is where you choose to swim, either out of convenience or necessity, push through your work-out, save the full-blown shower for home, and blast the eff outta there! I recommend arriving right at 6pm if you want an optimal experience. Good luck!
