Pool: Hamilton - Hamilton South Pool
Grade: B++
The Good: It has all you need for an enjoyable swim.
The Ugly: Nothing we could see
Reflections: We have been to the Hamilton Pool only once and it was a wee while ago. So if we are wildly wrong we would appreciate the comments of the present staff and will gladly update our report. The pool is off to the right of the road out of Hamilton towards Te Awamutu and the Waitomo Caves. You know that joke about the best thing in Hamilton being the road out? It’s true. This is a real good pool. It is a single 25m pool and not nearly as flash as Te Rapa. It’s a bit like the Stokes Valley Pool in Wellington. Because they are small and out of town they seem to try extra hard to make your swim enjoyable. When we were there we expected them to say at any moment,” How come you are not swimming at the town pool?” It all made for a most enjoyable swim. We had no trouble getting kick boards and if some urchin decided to play tag in a swimming lap lane the pool staff quickly dispatched him to his proper home. It wasn’t crowded when we were there either. It is a thoroughly good place to have a swim.

Pool: Matamata - Matamata Pool
Grade: B
The Good: It has all you need for an enjoyable swim.
The Ugly: It’s not a flash pool
Reflections: This is a good facility. It has a 25m indoor pool that looks a bit like it has been built on a very tight budget. Outside there is another 25m lap pool, a diving pool plus some play pools. The built and added on to feel gives the place more character than more modern purpose built pools like Tokoroa. It is a good place to stop for a swim on a journey from the south to Auckland. There always seems to be plenty of space and the pool staff have been helpful and welcoming. They have had some good coaches at Matamata and as a result the town has produced some good swimmers.

Pool: Hamilton – Te Rapa Aquatic Center

Grade: B

The Good: The pool, and it was the scene a couple of years ago of the finest act of courage and dignity I’ve ever seen in a swimming pool. Nichola Chellingworth won a silver medal in the National 50m free just 24 hours after being in a car accident that wrote off the car.

The Ugly: One or two dodgy decisions by swimming officials.

Reflections: The pool is one of New Zealand’s big five. Indoors it has a large learner’s pool, a 50m divided by a moveable boom at 25m main pool, and a diving pool. Outside it has another 50m-ish play pool. It is a good complex and has a lot of water space which means you can swim without the risk of injury. The lane ropes are good and the back stroke flags are always in place. The staff have always been friendly and helpful. We have not seen kick boards available for public use but we’ve never asked either. The pool has a reputation as a slow pool, probably because it is shallow. The number of records broken at the 2002 Winter Nationals puts a major question mark over the slow reputation. If the policy of qualifying for major internationals only at the 50m Summer Nationals is enforced, the Hamilton pool should not be used for this competition. We believe the shallow end does not comply with FINA minimun depth standards for starts. 50m swimmers are seriously disadvantaged. There have been those in Hamilton who havn’t appeared to care about that in the past. It should not happen again. We have mentioned several times that the activities that go on in a pool are as important as the pool itself. Hamilton has a proud record in this regard. For years the learn to swim school was noted as a leader in the field and Dick Trellor was one of the country’s most successful competitive coaches. Both have gone now. It will be interesting to see whether those now responsible can produce the same standard of swimmers.

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