Pool: Hastings - Flaxmere Pool
Grade: C+
The Good: The building – It’s huge
The Ugly: The pools real shallow
Reflections: The Flaxmere Pool was an old outdoor pool in the struggling community of Flaxmere. In an effort to provide recreational facilities Hastings City covered the pool and heated it. In the hometown of Graham Lowe, a man noted for building multi-million dollar factories for half the cost of anyone else, Flaxmere is a gem. It must be the most over designed building for the pool it houses we’ve ever seen. It’s too shallow for good competitions and is only seven lanes. The water temperature is good and it has the best spectator seating of any pool its size in New Zealand. The enormous roof means the atmosphere is good but you can never understand anything the PA system says. Whether it has fulfilled the Councils dream of providing organized recreation for the youth of Flaxmere is doubtful. We would suspect an analysis of the local swimming club’s address book would reveal most people drive to get there. It’s not a bad pool to do some training but we prefer Clive.

Pool: Hastings - Clive Pool

Grade: C

The Good: Great Water, good staff, not crowded

The Ugly: Fairly basic building that could do with some more ventilation and natural light. But it is getting them.

Reflections: We first swam in the Clive Pool in around 1963/64 when the Hawke’s Bay Poverty Bay Swimming Championships were held there. It was an outdoor pool in those days and the water was pumped straight from an artisian well into the pool. It was freezing. It didn’t seem to affect the standard of swimming. Johnny Palmer, Quinten Todd, Alan Christie and Sandra Whittleston all swam then and were all national open champions. Would that the current lot could get anywhere near their proud record. Since then the pool has been covered and heated. It is not the flashest job in the world. In fact it is pretty basic. Remember when you swim there though that a small group of people raised the money to cover that pool. They raffled meat packs and ran Housie in the Clive pub every week for years. It’s worth a trip to Clive just out of respect for their effort. Sure there is still a bit to do. The vaentilation and natural lighting could be improved but balancing that it has great water that you can swim 100kms in a week without any skin problems. That’s a sight more than you can say for many pools around the place. The staff are good and will provide you with a kick board or pull buoy if you do not have your own. The pool is eight lanes and usually has ample space. If you are in Napier and want a decent swim we would recommend you try the Clive Pool. As the advert says, "Drive to Clive".

Pool: Hastings - Swim Gym Pool
0-6-878-4699
Grade: B+
The Good: Pool, weights and aerobics all at the same place. Well looked after - clean and tidy. Good feel about it
The Ugly: Pool's a bit hot for the serious swimmer although Jane Copland did a lot of her preparation there prior to setting the New Zealand 200m breaststroke record.
Reflections: The swim Gym was the brainchild of Wayne Panther and the present owner of the business, Bret Mudgeway. They wanted to combine the exercise benefits of pool swimming, aqua-aerobics and aqua-jogging with a normal weight training and cardio gym and an aerobics floor. So that's what they did. They built a four lane 25m pool, a gym and an aerobics room - and they did it very well. Compared to Auckland and Wellington the Swim Gym provides that for an absolute song. The pool isn't really suitable for the 100kms a week swimming specialist - although we have seen a hundred swum in there. It was not set up for that purpose. For the general fitness swimmer it is very good. Two lanes are deep, one of them is for aqua-jogging, and the other two lanes are shallow. The pool has speed signs that are observed better than most places. Swim Gym provide a few kick boards but no pull buoys. The lane ropes are good quality. Big windows along one wall give the pool and open fresh feel. The water is usually too warm for a long swimming sessions. The boss however is in an impossible position. Reduce the temperature and the aqua-jogging crew would be furious. Without reservation, we recommend the Swim Gym for anyone visiting Hastings and looking for the best place to do their workout.

Pool: Hastings - Frimley Pool
Grade: D
The Good: The memories of Frimley as a new pool.
The Ugly: Close it and move on.
Reflections: We remember when the Frimley Pool was first opened and held its first Hawke's Bay Poverty Bay Championships. We had been training in Australia under Don Talbot and told everyone we were coming back to swim in New Zealand's newest pool. It was modern and a facility of civic pride. All that was a long time ago. No one trains there anymore - the water's too cold. Lane ropes are seldom used. Backstroke flags are never in place. It is old and it is tired. Apart from providing a place to swim for a few youngsters on a hot day it doesn't contribute anything any more. It's time a decision was taken to close the place down or redevelop. We have no idea what the development should be, but we do know there is not a 25m pool in Hawke's Bay that has eight lanes and deep water for decent swimmers to swim in. Whatever is done learn from the Napier Onekawa fiasco and do whatever it is properly.
Until then if you want to do a workout in Hastings City call in at the Swim Gym or - Drive To Clive.

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