Indoor swimming pools give Toronto's summer-lusters a little taste of what they've so been missing when the temperatures drop – minus the warm patio, tan, sunglasses, margaritas, sun, fun, and collective good mood. They're also great for low-impact cardio. What was I saying again?
Here are the my picks for the top indoor swimming pools in Toronto.
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre
This 312,000 square-foot venue near U of T's Scarborough campus was built for the 2015 Pan Am Games, but now serves both professional and recreational athletes. It has two Olympic sized swimming pools, a dive tank and a training pool with two moveable floor sections to adjust depth level.
Regent Park Aquatic Centre
Universal change rooms give way to multiple swimming and wading options at this free Regent Park facility, including a heated pool and a lap pool complete with Tarzan rope-swings. They also have a dope twisty water slide.
The York Recreation Centre
This sparkling fitness venue in Mount Dennis has a six lane, 25 metre pool with a ramp and stair access – plus a separate, shallow leisure tot pool for kids. A wide variety of free aquatic programs are offered here, as well as Bronze Cross and Emergency First training.
The Wave Pool
Did you know that Canada's largest indoor wave pool is in Richmond Hill? It's about 10 bucks for an adult swim session, but you're guaranteed to have so much fun. This place also has pool basketball, and on-deck sauna, water mats to lounge on, and a new waterslide.
Sheraton Centre
This pool is in a hotel, but you don't need a room to swim there. Locals can purchase a day pass for roughly $30, which isn't cheap, but it does give you access to the largest indoor-outdoor heated pool in downtown Toronto. You can purportedly swim between both "whether it's a winter wonderland or a summer's day."
Trinity Community Recreation Centre
With lots of light, the pool at Trinity Bellwoods is a great option if you're lucky enough to live in or near this 'hood. It's only $3.50 to drop in to do some laps (or get a membership to use the rest of the facilities). The pool here is about half the size of an Olympic pool.
The Cooper Koo Family Centre / Cherry Street YMCA
The Canary District's beautiful YMCA has two swimming pools. It's also where Pan Am athletes trained during the 2015 Games in Toronto. Membership to access the facilities starts at $55 per month.
Joseph Piccininni Community Recreation Centre
This St. Clair and Lansdowne facility has an indoor and outdoor pool, offers lane, leisure, fitness, and instructional swim, has a big slide and features cool colour tile work surrounding the water. They also have womens-only leisure swims during select weekend hours.
Douglas Snow Aquatic Centre
This North York facility boasts an Olympic size pool and two awesome waterslides – one of which is really high, really long, and fully swirls above the water at least once before dropping you into the shallow end. Leisure swims and aquafit classes are free and available all week.
Etobicoke Olympium
As its name might suggest, you'll find an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a number of professional diving boards at this Etobicoke athletic centre. If 50 metres is too much, there's also a smaller leisure pool.
Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre
This indoor pool in a large Leslieville community centre hosts synchronized swims, lessons, certification programs, and other registered activities. It also a second pool exclusively for children, which is nice if you're worried about, ya know... pee and stuff.
St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre
This community centre on the Esplanade is one of the rare city pools that offer national lifeguard certification and training. It also has at least one, two-hour drop in lane swim every day. On Mondays and Fridays, it has three lane swims throughout the day.
University of Toronto Athletic Centre
The Varsity Pool at U of T's Athletic centre is an Olympic-sized 50m, complete with springboards, platforms, and chairlift. There's also the 25-yard Benson pool, which is used primarily for lane swims. Access to both pools require a membership, except for on Sundays.
Centennial Recreation Centre
Programs are free at this Scarborough community centre, and there are lots of them available for people of all ages. Centennial is home to both the Scarborough Springboard Diving Club and Scarborough Underwater Club. It also has two indoor skating rinks!
Beaches Recreation Centre
The Beaches Rec Centre pool has a diving board! That's something, no? The free aquatic facilities here are mostly used for registered programs, including aquafit and swimming lessons. Bring along a crushed pop can filled with cigarette butts for an authentic Toronto beach experience.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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