Our son is a younger swimmer at this facility and loves it! What a wonderful oppurtunity to introduce him to the sport swimming. It's a top notch facility!
Anonymous Coward said:Is there any chance of filming tours or workouts in other countries? I would love to see how some of the Australians train
Amen to that. Sure we see practically all of the colleges in the US w/ swim teams but what about our huge competition with the Aussies! I would LOVE to see a few workout vids of them over there.
The US Masters Swimming - SwimFest09!
Here at The Woodlands begins tomorrow!
http://www.usms.org/swimfest
All the top USMS Coaches gathering (with a few lucky swimmers) for a weekend of fired up coaching and pool & open water swimming!
In response to some of the comments below; if you knew the whole story of Woodlands swimming you might have a differnet veiw of the investment this community has made in our atheletic's facilities and in swimming specifically. Some very talented and successful people have come up in this program; doctors, lawyers, scientests, business owners, etc. This team has given back to the community 10 fold what it has taken. You can not put a value on confidence and persistence, direct teachings of the sport of swimming has given generations of kids in this part of Texas.
Richard Justice a sports columnist from the Houston Chronicle wrote a peice earlrier this week that really made a point of what this team has meant for The Woodlands. In writing about the WAC (The teams old facility) he talked about the people that were drawn to the last practice,parents, swimmers, former coaches and their swimmers and the strong sense of community that they all shared over the past three decades. It is irreplacable and the same will come from the facilities for future generations to come. At this time in history we especially need to bond and this team and its heritage play a big part in that accomplishment. It takes a village to raise a child, not just more teachers to help prep for the standardized tests or to baby sit our young. This team embodies community and it is money very well spent!
Nice facility but the Holland Community Aquatic Center was rated the best indoor public/non-profit facility in the nation by Aquatics International magazine. Check us out http://www.hollandaquaticcenter.org/
Supported by bond money giving West Michigan an incredible facility for the grade schools, middle schools, high school and club swimmers. It is great to have a community support the sport of swimming.
Anonymous Coward said: “I love swimming and am all for good facilities but I have to think that the money used to build this could have been put to better use. How many teachers could have been hired and retained for years in lieu of this pool?”
The money may have been better spent in your opinion, but apparently not for the people that actually live there. Bond issues are VOTED ON and paid for by the people living in the school district. It's THEIR money and they know best how to spend it. Kudos to the Woodlands! They've run an amazing program for many, many years and the citizens in their community have rewarded them with this amazing facility. Apparently the community must realize that they're investing in people and their futures and not just in a building. I'd rather see money spent like this, as opposed to the govt stealing MY money and bailing out Wall Street crooks, or by starting some massive public works sham like Obama's selling. Awesome pool and a great set of interviews. Thanks FloSwim. Keep up the great work. The swimming community is better b/c of this site.
This pool destroys my college's pool, and is reassuring that it is built. while my old high school does have a nice facility, the district has closed down both middle school pools in the area because of the cost of running them, so we have lots of middle schoolers not learning how to swim.
Shawn Klosterman said: “if people really knew what a valuable instructional and community asset a swimming pool can be, there would be a greater push to get pools built at every school in the nation. In my part of the country, very few families will pay for swim lessons, and we read about drownings in rivers, lakes and pools all the time. We give two weeks of free lessons to everyone who enrolls for Kindergarten in the school district and give swim classes as a P.E. unit from 3rd through 12th grade. Our pool is full of people from 5am to 9:30pm with various community programs. Swimming pools are usually paid for by passing bond issues anyway, meaning that the money is specifically for construction and could not be used for salaries anyway.
Sorry to get defensive... I am just astonished that any school would not have a pool!”
Where are you from? I am doing a graduation project on this very issue and I find it great that schools are taking the initiative to begin learn-to-swim programs by building pools. They may be expensive, but in the long run, having a pool incites more to dive in and learn to swim.
I was thrilled to hear Tim talk a bit about the process they went through in order to get this facility built. It's information and videos like this that help me and the administrators at our program & school figure out how we're going to go about building a new facility.
minus the football assets, it kind of reminds me of the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, NC. but this whole setup is amazing, so conducive to creating competitive programs and interest - excellent!
Anonymous Coward said: “I love swimming and am all for good facilities but I have to think that the money used to build this could have been put to better use. How many teachers could have been hired and retained for years in lieu of this pool?”
if people really knew what a valuable instructional and community asset a swimming pool can be, there would be a greater push to get pools built at every school in the nation. In my part of the country, very few families will pay for swim lessons, and we read about drownings in rivers, lakes and pools all the time. We give two weeks of free lessons to everyone who enrolls for Kindergarten in the school district and give swim classes as a P.E. unit from 3rd through 12th grade. Our pool is full of people from 5am to 9:30pm with various community programs. Swimming pools are usually paid for by passing bond issues anyway, meaning that the money is specifically for construction and could not be used for salaries anyway.
Sorry to get defensive... I am just astonished that any school would not have a pool!
I love swimming and am all for good facilities but I have to think that the money used to build this could have been put to better use. How many teachers could have been hired and retained for years in lieu of this pool?
Amen to that. Sure we see practically all of the colleges in the US w/ swim teams but what about our huge competition with the Aussies! I would LOVE to see a few workout vids of them over there.
Here at The Woodlands begins tomorrow!
http://www.usms.org/swimfest
All the top USMS Coaches gathering (with a few lucky swimmers) for a weekend of fired up coaching and pool & open water swimming!
THANKS TO OUR COMMUNITY FOR COMING TOGETHER TO BUILD THIS FACILITY. ALL AGES ARE ENJOYING.
Richard Justice a sports columnist from the Houston Chronicle wrote a peice earlrier this week that really made a point of what this team has meant for The Woodlands. In writing about the WAC (The teams old facility) he talked about the people that were drawn to the last practice,parents, swimmers, former coaches and their swimmers and the strong sense of community that they all shared over the past three decades. It is irreplacable and the same will come from the facilities for future generations to come. At this time in history we especially need to bond and this team and its heritage play a big part in that accomplishment. It takes a village to raise a child, not just more teachers to help prep for the standardized tests or to baby sit our young. This team embodies community and it is money very well spent!
Supported by bond money giving West Michigan an incredible facility for the grade schools, middle schools, high school and club swimmers. It is great to have a community support the sport of swimming.
“I love swimming and am all for good facilities but I have to think that the money used to build this could have been put to better use. How many teachers could have been hired and retained for years in lieu of this pool?”
“if people really knew what a valuable instructional and community asset a swimming pool can be, there would be a greater push to get pools built at every school in the nation. In my part of the country, very few families will pay for swim lessons, and we read about drownings in rivers, lakes and pools all the time. We give two weeks of free lessons to everyone who enrolls for Kindergarten in the school district and give swim classes as a P.E. unit from 3rd through 12th grade. Our pool is full of people from 5am to 9:30pm with various community programs. Swimming pools are usually paid for by passing bond issues anyway, meaning that the money is specifically for construction and could not be used for salaries anyway.
Sorry to get defensive... I am just astonished that any school would not have a pool!”
“I love swimming and am all for good facilities but I have to think that the money used to build this could have been put to better use. How many teachers could have been hired and retained for years in lieu of this pool?”
Sorry to get defensive... I am just astonished that any school would not have a pool!