Swimming Holes We Have Known: west end

Summer's last gasp: Smythe Park Pool

There is only one week of outdoor pool swimming left in Toronto (gasp! sob!) but I have found a brilliant gem of a pool in which to spend the next seven days: Smythe Park Pool.

My winter fast lane pal tipped me off about this quiet, west end 50m pool, but it took me until now to check it out. Pro-tip: Don't listen to Google maps, you have to enter in off of Scarlett Rd, then take the winding road in. It'll feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, but it's coming, I promise.

And just like that, it appears in all of its chlorinated glory. It is 50m of perfect turquoise chaos, the shallow end packed with frozen tag and cannon balls, the deep end nearly empty, a tinny radio set out near the staff room blasting "Karma Chameleon." I felt like I had time-warped back to the mid-80s, where I idolized my swim teachers and learned to stride jump in the deep end. The sun presses hot against the HUGE, expansive interlock brick deck (perhaps the most generous deck I've seen in any City of Toronto pool!)

There's a length swim from 7-7:55 every evening – 50 whole metres of swimming before turning around – but a baby + a toddler + bedtime make that impossible this year. (NEXT SUMMER!!)

And, if that wasn't enough, next to the 50m pool is a shallow kiddie pool, and beside all of it, is a playground AND a splash pad.

Note: there aren't any lockers, and you have to leave your bag outside the deck. There did seem to be a staffed coat check-esque area, but no one was working there when I was swimming...

Hours and exact location here!

P.S.: Shawn Micallef's brilliant ode to summer swimming in Toronto. Get thee to the water!!

Lindsay
Monday, August 28, 2017

The first Sunnyside swim of 2017!

2017

After a less-than-successful first attempt at swimming outdoors last Saturday, followed by a feverish Sunday trapped in bed while the sun shone, I FINALLY made it to Sunnyside this weekend – my very favourite pool to swim in. I had butterflies in my stomach, I was so excited. It felt like Christmas morning, but with chlorine instead of presents under the tree.

The pool was fouling-free and sun-full and I got there right when it opened.

After a lifetime of taking FOREVER to get in the water, my swimming ladies encouraged me to jump in last summer, and so what better way to enter the 2017 summer swimming season than with the biggest jump I could muster.

("Mama jump in swimming pool!" my toddler is still saying. I beam every time!)

The fast lane was SO fast – with a U of T swimmer who was tearing it up, and an older man who apparently was on the national team in the 70s – that I had to marvel at their speed one lane over in the medium lane. I will never tire of watching fast, efficient swimmers. That and watching the across the floor jumping combinations in a dance class are two of my favourite things to witness.

The water didn't have the thick layer of sunscreen like it will by August, but was crisp and perfectly turquoise, warmer than the air. My mind drifted and rambled as it only can during a wonderful swim and when I was done, I made sure to float on my back in the centre of the deep end, letting the huge blue sky full my lungs.

And if that wasn't wonderful enough, I ran into a guard who recognized me from my very pregnant swimming days before I had my daughter a few months ago. He had been guarding the day before I gave birth and got a glimpse of my little girl in her stroller.

It's been thunderstorming ever since (grrrrr), but I have my fingers crossed for sunny swimming days ahead!

Lindsay
Tuesday, June 27, 2017

My top 6 Toronto pools for swimming with kiddos

A-plus west end pools

I love (LOVE!) swimming, but since having my kid 18 months ago, I've realized how much more complicated it can be to swim with a kid (especially solo).

I've learned to strategically pack a bag (towels on the top for quick post-swim-shivering-kid access!) and to make sure there are snacks for both of us to combat the post-swim hangries.

Pools with big, wide benches in the change rooms, warm (at least not freezing) water are key, with extra bonus points for super shallow steps/area for littles to splash around in.

With nap schedules and a toddler who despises being strapped into a car seat, especially on hot summer days, I've only been able to explore west-end pools, but here are my favs:

#1: Alex Duff Memorial Park at Christie Pits

It's taken me until today to get to this west end gem (and it did open late this season), but I am a convert! There are FOUR (!) pools here: three shallow ones, including a wading pool, wide steps, and a really wide, slow entry for timid swimmers (and a deep end and a twirly slide for big kids).

There are even universal change rooms (in addition to men's and women's), and there's stroller parking on deck! The shallow pools are also super warm AND it's even TTC accessible.

AND the hours are amazing: M-F 10am-9pm, S/Su 10am-8pm until Labour Day, the THEN there are extra hours from Sept 6-18: M-F 4-7pm and S/Su 12-4pm. So much swimming left!

Amazing, right?!

#2: High Park Pool:

The photo at the top of the post is from High Park Pool. The hours aren't great with Jack's nap schedule, but it has a really shallow wade-in for littles, and a mini splash pad next to the pool. (Oh, and a twirly slide for older kids). There are two connected pools: one shallow end and one deep end, which means the rowdy cannonballing older kids aren't plowing into little guys. It's a chilly pool, so it's best appreciated mid-summer, in the middle of a heat wave

Also, there's an amazing wading pool/splashpad combo nearby (that is open in the afternoon window the pool is closed) and it's near a subway station (and bikeable from my house – extra points).

Oh, and the rows and rows of lockers in the change room makes for great entertainment while you get changed...

#3: Lambton Kingsway Pool at Dundas W at Prince Edward Dr.

This was the first pool I took Jack to, and I guarded at this pool briefly, so I'm definitely biased, and it's open until 4:15 for public swim, which makes for post-nap dips. It's not particularly transit-friendly, BUT, there's a family change room and long ramp into the shallow end makes for great kid-entries. It's surrounded by parks and tennis courts and baseball diamonds, and grass (which makes for the perfect place to change a toddler...!) Be warned: the change rooms are tiny (and there is currently a cold water alert on!)

#4: Giovanni Caboto Pool at Lansdowne and St. Clair

This one is a big huge, beautiful pool. The change rooms here are SO great for getting a wriggly toddler in and out of a suit – big benches, lots of space. It gets busy, but there are wide steps that are great for water-timid toddlers to get their feet wet.

And after the pool closes for an hour from 4-5, don't take off your kid's suit – just head over to the wading pool in Earlscourt Park. A brilliant summer afternoon!

#5: Park Lawn Pool

I've already waxed poetic about Park Lawn Pool, the pool that holds my entire childhood so once again, I'm far from objective, but it's a quiet pool (this year at least!). It's next to a small park with swings and a slide (and my sister's amazing backyard is close by...!)

It's not particularly transit friendly, but it's open till 4:15 (which is great post-nap for us!) and there's a huge parking lot. Note: there is a "family change room" though it's nowhere near the pool, and is less a change room than a room with a bench.

#6: Sunnyside Gus Ryder

I love Sunnyside because it's big and huge and always busy. It's right by the lake, with extra points for being beside the dinosaur park and near the Lakeshore Blvd, (and if your kid loves trucks/buses/cars half as much as mine, it makes for entertaining viewing!) It's got wide steps and a ramp in the shallow end. Note: you can't bring bags out on the deck, which can be tricky with littles.

The best part about Sunnyside is that it's open every day from 10-3:45, and then again from 5-8. Is there anything better than a morning swim? (And morning swims always make for solid afternoon naps!)

Aaaaaaaand when naps are long, or bathing suits are MIA, there's always the backup "pool":

Lindsay
Thursday, August 25, 2016

The most charmed swim in recent history

high park pool

The sun was long and low when I locked my bike at High Park Pool and there was a T-ball game on. As I waited for the length swim to start, a kid named Moose got her first base hit and the umpire yelled "batter up" and "play ball" every time a kid stood in front of the tee. It was already summer perfection and I hadn't even gotten in the water...

The change rooms at High Park are cavernous, doubling as the change rooms for the skating rinks in the winter. I was so excited to find the pool, I got lost a number of times. Whoops.

But when I finally found the pool, it was so still and empty I almost wept. I was the only one in the water for the first few lengths, my arms cutting through the glass surface, the sun reflected through the water on the bottom and the sides of the pool in pale blue pale diamonds, shifting, wavering. And whenever I stopped to adjust my goggles, I could hear the the crack of a baseball on a bat at the diamond beside the pool, the eruption of fans at a home run, encouraging the runners home.

Oh, and I found a loonie in the deep end, making it the most charmed swim in recent years.

Except that the water was so cold my hands were numb before the first lifeguard stepped down from the chair and I couldn't make it the full 55 minutes. I was too cold and my goosebumps had goosebumps.

I didn't swim at the High Park Pool last year for a lot of reasons, and I'm so glad this year is already different than last, even if it did take the longest, hottest shower, wool socks and track pants to warm me back up.