Wanna get wet?

As the summer heat reaches new highs, IU students and Bloomington residents are slipping into bathing suits and heading to the pool to cool off and enjoy a favorite pastime.

And at the IU Outdoor Pool, they can enjoy swimming with a casual atmosphere.
Pool Director Bill Ramos said IU aims to create an enjoyable atmosphere for students, offering late hours and events such as the cardboard boat race, where student groups design and build a boat using only duct tape and cardboard.

The pool offers discounted student rates as well as weeklong passes for $14.50. Swimmers can also purchase group rates and rent out the pool.

Diving and instructional pools complement the Olympic-sized competitive pool, so the area is rarely overcrowded.Students and residents can unwind on the poolside during its daily recreational swim hours between 1:30 to 6 p.m.

The pool deck is lined with more than 80 lounge chairs, so finding a place to recline is easy. The area also offers a scenic view of nature, which Ramos said entices students and residents to return.

“One of the beauties once you’re inside is that you are completely surrounded by trees,” Ramos said. “We also have wireless Internet available on deck, so if people want to come and do a little school work while they lay out, they are welcome to do that. It’s a good place to relax and meet people.”

And many swimmers appreciate the pool’s peaceful atmosphere.

 IU junior Danielle Fanslow said she swims at the IU Outdoor Pool for its quiet and laid-back environment.

“It’s a college atmosphere,” she said. “You’re surrounded by a lot of students and young people. The mood is just casual and easygoing.”

 Although the pool attracts crowds of swimmers interested in reading and sunbathing, many people prefer a different use for the pool – exercise. Students and residents can work out during lap-swimming hours, which run from 6 to 8 a.m., noon to 1:30 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. during the weekdays, and from noon to 1:30 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. on weekends.

Swimmers can also take deep and shallow-water fitness classes.

Tatiana Kolovou, an IU faculty member who teaches evening water-fitness classes, finds the IU Outdoor Pool ideal for all forms of swimming.

“I swim here because it’s the only pool in town where they have plenty of competitive lanes, but also a pool for the kids,” she said. “The atmosphere is very inclusive. It’s relaxed but structured.”

As peaceful as the pool is, it was designed as more than just a leisure facility. Completed in 1966, it was funded by Herman B Wells and two private individuals to counter the draw of the dangerous Sanders Quarry. The quarries are technically private property, but beyond that, they have been the site of injuries and deaths.

“The University was very concerned with students going out there, usually drinking and looking for an adventure,” Ramos said. “We’ve seen injuries, even deaths from jumping into the quarries. The water is not real clear, so you don’t know what’s down there.”
In 1984, the pool was sold to the University for $1. Its original mission to curtail the appeal of jumping at the quarries has been largely forgotten.

But Ramos said the pool’s distinctive history still makes it an important part of the community.

“We think it stands today as a gem on the IU campus and great get-a-way place everyone in the Bloomington area,” he said.