Ballard Pool

"The lifeguards are actually decent people here but what makes this pool intolerable is the people who treat this public pool like its their own private lane. I was swimming in the easy lane because I'm learning how to swim and in the middle of my swim a lady literally smacks me on the butt while backstroking. It was so hard I thought it was my partner playing a joke on me. I stop and look up and she yells at me "Careful!" as if I had taken her hand and smacked my own butt with it. Then a few laps later she hits my foot with her hand while backstroking again and then proceeds to complain to me as if I was the one who hit her. I move over to an easier lane to avoid her. After the first lap another lady tells me she thinks I'm in the wrong lane. There is no correct speed or enough space for these old women at the public pool. They treat it like they are at the Ritz and should have their own butler and that everyone else is wrong. Horrible experience and would not recommend for anyone learning how to swim."

"When you walk in the chlorine smell is very strong, locker rooms were a little musty not not too bad. Pool itself was fabulous, there was a diving board, a slide and a rope swing. There was a swimming test required to use these water features but it was a simple backstroke across the with of the pool. They also had a very decently sized hot tub."

"This place is sick there’s this one super cool and awesome life guard who works there some time, I think his name starts with a T or something. Anyways the hot tub is pretty cool as well."

"You can get an hour of open swim for $6.50 per person! The pool is pretty big and goes up to 6 or 7 ft. While an open swim is going on, it is split, and there are three lanes for swimming laps (slow, medium, fast). The remaining half of the pool is for people, not swimming laps. The pool is pretty warm, and the lifeguards are super friendly and have a lot of helpful tips to get you moving! There are lots of different flotation devices and even little foam weights to help with different exercises!"

"The lifeguards are incredibly mean at this pool. I've off and on brought my kid here for years, but it's not worth it anymore. They have gotten so ridiculous. It's not about safety. I once went and my kid, who was obviously swimming well, diving down, happily doing somersaults, etc...the lifeguard got huffy and asked if he was a good swimmer because he didn't want to have to get in...as in, do your job? They have been taught to just constantly find things to pick at people for. They make up rules as they go along. It gets to the point that we parents just turn our backs and pretend we don't hear them. Just happily swimming they yell at you every few minutes. It is not worth going to this pool even though it's a few blocks away. They need to make some serious changes to the culture here. I would never recommend this pool to anybody and intend to decline birthday party invites here as they are just so awful."