Pool: Marton - Marton Pool

(06) 327- 8359

Grade: B-

The Good: 50m all the time

The Ugly: It often closes in the winter

Reflections: How on earth did a town the size of Marton end up with a perfectly good 50m indoor swimming pool. Sure its a bit shallow and the starting blocks are so small Ian Thorpe would have to start with one leg but its 50m all the time, its not crowded, the lane ropes are good and we have been readily supplied with a kick board when we’ve swum there. There is also an outdoor paddling pool, diving pool and picnic area. It’s not the best pool in the world for racing in because it’s shallow and the blocks are a bit of a joke. But for training 50m it is a very good pool. After all, how many pools around New Zealand can you rely on to be 50m all the time - not many. So if you’re driving in the Wanganui, Palmerston North area go for a swim at Marton, You can’t miss it. Every road sign points to Marton. It can’t be far from where you are.

Pool: Wanganui - Splash Center Pool
Grade: B
The Good: It is a lovely facility. The people who raised the funding and the town can be proud.
The Ugly: Only things necessary for National competitions.
Reflections: Here is another pool that was built as a result of years of work by the Community. They raised money from a shop in the main street - barbecues, raffles, begging, they did the lot. At the end of it they built a decent pool. They have eight lanes and a learners pool. It is open and spacious. They have good lane ropes and whenever we've asked for a kick board it has been supplied. The staff are helpful and seem to enjoy doing their work. Someone should do Napier a favour and hire a bus to take the Council to Wanganui to see what they should have done at Onekawa. While they are there they might ask the Wanganui staff for some tips on how to run a place like that. If you're visiting Wanganui you need have no fears about using this pool for your workout. Our only minor grumbles are that the pool seems too shallow for fast swimming and yet we've seen some real good times swum there. For big meets they struggle with seating and for National meets you really do need a warm up and warm down pool. Having said that the Winter Nationals were held there four years ago and stand out as a fun meet. We are aware of the huge effort made by Wanganui to put on that meet. It worked.

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