Blogger's 4 Kids Take the Endless Pool Challenge

"I have a swim family," declared Julie Corrigan on the popular lifestyle and travel blog, The Mom Reviews, when she and her four kids met Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines. Since Rowdy is the owner of both an Endless Pools Swim Spa® and an Endless Pools Fastlane®, we invited Julie and her family to experience how he trains. She published her account last week and generously granted us permission to repost her words here.

Have you ever wanted to have a pool in your backyard but really don’t have the room or the budget for one? Well, an Endless Pool might just be the answer for you!

Recently I was contacted by Endless Pools to come and experience their pool. Endless Pools can be enjoyed as a traditional pool to relax in but they also have a unique system that creates a current to swim in for exercise. With four children who swim competitively, I was interested to see how they would like swimming in the pool. We headed up to the FINIS headquarters in Livermore, CA for our swim in the Endless Pool.

The team at FINIS was great, giving us a tour of their headquarters and helping my swimmers with their stroke. It was fun to see where some of the equipment we use on our swim team was developed. The Endless Pool at their headquarters is in their Stroke Lab and is used to help develop new products and give their employees a place to workout.

At first sight, I was impressed with the size of the pool. It was the perfect size for swimming laps but would also be great for soaking or a few kids to play in. An Endless Pool can be customized from 7’x12’ to 10’x16’ to fit your space perfectly, indoors or out. I know my backyard isn’t big enough to fit a traditional pool, but an Endless Pool would be able to fit no problem. There are even options that can include an underwater treadmill.

How was the pool to swim in? I had my 15 year old and 12 year old try out the pool. It took a few seconds to figure out getting in and out of the current that is created, but they got the hang of it pretty quickly. The speed of the current is completely customizable and is based on a 100-yard pace. The different models offer different top speeds of the current. The pool we were in was the Elite model, so my son was able to swim at a 0:56/100 pace, while my daughter swam a 1:10/100 pace, making the pool suitable for all levels of swimmers beginner to Olympian.

My kids really enjoyed swimming in the Endless Pool, they both liked that there was a mirror underneath them in the water so they could see themselves swimming. I think it provided a more consistent pace than they are able to create on their own without the current, which would provide a better workout.

An Endless Pool would be perfect for home fitness and for a low impact swim workout, with a fraction of the cost of a full sized pool, they also have an option to be able to add a swim current to an existing pool. Plus, being able to fit one of these pools indoors or outdoors (even in a garage), your options are endless (yes, pun intended).

A special thank you to the team at FINIS for taking the time to introduce us to the Endless Pool at their facility, and working with my children to better their freestyle stroke. Everyone was very friendly! John Mix, one of FINIS’ founders, came out to say hello, and my family is pretty excited to watch CJ Fiala, FINIS’ Marketing Coordinator, at the Olympic Trials next summer. To find out more about Endless Pools for endless fitness and fun, visit their website at www.endlesspools.com. Happy swimming everyone!

About Julie: I’m a 41-year-old SAHM, independent demonstrator with Uppercase Living, a self-taught artist/crafter (whichever term you want to put with what I create), and former social worker. My life revolves around myself, husband, son (16), daughter (12), and twin daughters (10). That makes six to keep up with! We have an active family who loves the outdoors, scouting, swimming, and volunteering.

Opportunity was provided to The Mom Reviews, all opinions my own.