NAC - 50m Pool Availability

radharc

Decided this morning I would like to go for a spin up to the NAC to avail of the Olympic Pool. Looking at their schedule the 50m pool is available only until 9.30am!

I appreciate they need to strike a balance but 13 hours at 25m and 3 hours at 50m is a joke. Also a 14.50 fee for access to a 25m pool is extortionate.

biomed32

Hence the reason why I have never and will not use the Aquatic Center. Prices are beyond bonkers, membership rates are crazy.

I swim full time outdoors in the sea at the moment which is free and, although only 25m pool, the Coolmine Swimming Pool does the job.

On another note, how have the NAC gotten away with such a price for so long. I am aware that it does grant you access to the fun zone but if your only there for a swim...

Freddio

It's 7.50 during school terms and you can stay as long as you want once your in.

Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's it's 50m from 3pm onwards and most of the weekends.

I do agree they could police it better to stop people getting into aquazone at the lower pool rate which is the only reason I see for it going up to 14 Euro. It would suit them to charge the 7.50 as more people would use it, but then it's great having a 50m lane to yourself :-)

biomed32

I still think, for a swim, 7.50 is ridiculous!

mad m

biomed32 wrote: »

I still think, for a swim, 7.50 is ridiculous!

It's actually not that bad seeing as you get the use of 50m, plus if you were doing masters sessions, they cost 6/7 euro a pop.

biomed32

mad m wrote: »

It's actually not that bad seeing as you get the use of 50m, plus if you were doing masters sessions, they cost 6/7 euro a pop.

Agree with you there but, if like me, your swimming up to 5 days during the winter thats close to 40 euro a week for the 5 days of swimming. I for one dont have 40 euro spare.

Freddio

biomed32 wrote: »

Agree with you there but, if like me, your swimming up to 5 days during the winter thats close to 40 euro a week for the 5 days of swimming. I for one dont have 40 euro spare.

Annual membership to the pool is 330 €, that's less than 7€ per week which would mean a little over a Euro per swim for that regime

mad m

biomed32 wrote: »

Agree with you there but, if like me, your swimming up to 5 days during the winter thats close to 40 euro a week for the 5 days of swimming. I for one dont have 40 euro spare.

Fairplay for doing 5days a week. The only better option if your near one is join a ben dunnes gym with a pool. 495 for 3 people I think thats 165 a year. Sure even if you didn't swim it would be cheaper to go up there just for a shower . Then do 50metre pool once a week for distance. Sure look at me saying that when I should be doing it myself. Well the distance training at least

radharc

For me the price is only a side issue. 7.50 is a little high, I stand by the extortionate remark for a 14 euro fee.

The NAC is our national 50m pool, I don't think it unreasonable to expect it would operate at 50m for at least six hours every day.

gutenberg

radharc wrote: »

For me the price is only a side issue. 7.50 is a little high, I stand by the extortionate remark for a 14 euro fee.

The NAC is our national 50m pool, I don't think it unreasonable to expect it would operate at 50m for at least six hours every day.

I think one problem is that so many different groups use it, having it in the 50-metre format for too long becomes impractical. I was swimming up there today, in one 25-metre pool they had lanes for lap swimming, but in another they had a group of disabled people taking a lesson. When the pool is in the 50 metre format it has to be at a depth of 2.40 metres I think, which becomes tricky for things like that group today, or kids' swimming classes in the afternoons, or an adult aqua exercise class. Plus not everyone would be able to swim 50-metre laps if they're swimming for exercise.

I do agree with you that I woudl like it to be kept in the 50-metre format for longer every day, but I can also see the demands upon the NAC itself and the ease of having three 25-metre pools instead.

One other issue is that their communication with regards to what format the pool will be in a particular time, or which pools will be available, is shocking. As I said I went up there today, the 'main' 25-metre pool (the deep central one) was closed for cleaning, and everyone was shoved into one of the side pools with fewer lanes. No indication anywhere that this was happening until you got onto the deck. On other occasions, their calendar stated that the pool would be in the 25-metre format; I got there, and it was in the 50-metre set-up! How hard can it be to keep customers informed properly, especially for the prices they charge?

Hani Kosti

Just my two cents, I'm a member of UCD, the pool is 50m 7days/week
There is a planned maintenance next week, a poster is in changing rooms more than a week in advance so members are fully aware of this
Clean changing rooms and reasonable enough membership fee
7.50 is price for 50m pool for sure, not to mention 14!

swimforever

What is the cost of annual membership in UCD?

shakencat

are there any clubs in UCD? i called today about masters training session and they said all the cater for is swimming lessons

Seanie_H

shakencat wrote: »

are there any clubs in UCD? i called today about masters training session and they said all the cater for is swimming lessons

There are tri clubs there for sure. Belpark are there a few days a week.

Desmonddoyle

The ridiculous price for a swim is one thing, but it's more frustrating if you are a member because every time you go up, the pool is taken up with any one of a hundred clubs training, gala's, cleaning, classes etc. Very often, 'members' are corralled into two or three lanes crammed full of with swimmers of very different abilities.

I agree with the above poster who said the communication is awful too - it's often a different configuration to what's on their website, which is even more frustrating when you go to the bother of planning a session for a 25 or 50 format.