Gath Memorial Pool

This is a review of the kiddie pool section of Gath. It is, quite simply, the worst. The wading pool is tiny, overcrowded, and generally filthy. While they charge a nominal fee to get into the regular pool, the wading pool is free, and is packed to the gills with children who are clearly too old for a kiddie pool. My 3 year old daughter still enjoys splashing around here, but I dread taking her.

I reviewed this a few years ago but have been going more often, so I felt the need to update. I still can’t bring myself to give it more than 3 stars, even with the added shades. It is a nice, clean pool, so it has that going for it.
But, if you’re looking for a place to swim for exercise, look elsewhere. My husband bought a membership to train for the swimming segment of a triathalon. Unfortunately, there are a ton of restrictions on when there is open lap swim. During the week, there is no lap swim on Tuesdays and the other weeknights only has lap swim from 6pm and dusk. During that time, the lifeguards tend to not to enforce the lap only lanes, so if you’re trying to swim for exercise you’re kind of out of luck. It’s been such a disappointment that we are frequenting Crystal Lake instead (thank goodness the membership is good for both locations!) where there are less time restrictions and there is more space for swimming laps. There is even a map in the building there to tell you how long the laps are, in feet.
My husband has stopped going to Gath Pool because lap swim was so tedious, but I still go there to use the (free) kiddie pool. We really like the kiddie pool. The kiddie pool is fun and cute, but it gets slippery on the blue area. My son has slipped going into the pool twice this summer so far and once hurt his foot pretty badly. So be careful!

Gath pool is a spacious, clean and fun pool! Lifeguards are friendly and keep everyone safe! My niece takes lessons in the morning and loves them! Then back to pool after lunch for free swim! Enjoy everyone!

I recently went to the Gath Pool with a student who experiences grand mal seizures. He has a life jacket that he brings with him on swimming trips because of his medical condition. We were denied access to the pool by the teenage staff who claimed that inflatables were not allowed. What?! It’s a pool. And they have inflatables in the pool already! They said that my student could go in the pool without the life jacket (and rely on the lifesaving skills of the scrawny 15 year old lifeguards) – I think not. The best part is that my supervisor called the day before to verify that the student could bring his life jacket in.

I’m reviewing a pool because I’m annoyed at the only other review posted here.
A $ 45 per adult and $ 20 per child season pass to a community pool is hardly expensive. You can instead choose to pay for individual visits. There are, at any given time, 4 to 5 lifeguards to make sure all the kids are safe (and I’d like to think that’s where your fees are going and worth the cost in my opinion). I do agree that there are minimal shaded areas for watchful adults.
Overall, the pool is well kept. It’s divided into three sections — diving area, lap lanes, and general pool area. I think one downside is that there are only 2 lap lanes. The diving area consumes way too much pool space. I’d rather they close that off and turn it into lap lanes. It’s also a small pool so on weekends, it’s busting at the seams with squealing kids.
Yes, it’s $ 130 for a family of 4 but people spend more money on video games to keep their children entertained for the summer. At least this way, they’re getting some exercise in our increasingly obese nation.