The new aquatic center

Many many moons ago, Virginia Tech worked with the town of Christiansburg to design a swimming facility that the VT swim team could use for practice and competition and the town could use for lap and rec swimming. The design was complete a few years ago and for a couple years now Braden has been telling his recruits they would be able to practice in this new pool (it was just a tad late in being completed...like a year maybe two). I too have been SO wanting this new pool to open so I have a place to take my kids in the winter when the cabin fever sets in.

Well, the wait is finally over. The Christiansburg Aquatic Center finally opened last Sunday. The center consists of a 50 meter competition pool with springboards and tower for diving, an indoor waterpark with a 3-loop slide, a warm water therapy pool, a cardio room, a multi-purpose room with kitchen, and seating for at least 1200 spectators. Virginia Tech also has their own locker rooms, team room, parking lot, and side entrance. There's also a super-cool scoreboard that can do instant replays. Basically, this facility is top-notch.

Because this facility opened their doors in the middle of summer and because they are closed quite a bit the first 2 weeks for a few swim meets they are hosting, they are offering free admission until Aug. 2. We will likely buy a membership, but not until the outdoor pool closes for the summer.

So anyway, the swim team has been practicing there for about a week, but it was time the kids got to try it out. The only downer is that by offering free admission, people come out in droves to swim at this place. So to say it was crowded is an understatement.

Blythe swam around a while but then decided to try the big slide and she was hooked. That's all she did the rest of the time (despite having to wait in line about 8-10 minutes each time). Here she is giving it a go.

Since Ethan can't swim, that means no slide for him. He liked playing in the splash area. Here he is giving his typical "I-will-say-cheese-but-won't-look-at-the-camera" pose.