Overview:
Open: This is a year round pool
Price: $3.50, or 30 swims for $87.50
Pool Hours: Mon - Fri: 6:30 - 8:30 am, 11:00 am - 4:30 pm, 5:00 - 7:30 pm; Saturday 1:00 - 4:00 pm, open same time on Sunday during summer
Locker Room: Bag check or you can bring your own lock
Equipment: Kickboards and pull buoys
Website: Here
Showers: Heated, but only one usually works
Parking: Difficult
Crowds: For lap swim, low; for rec swim, high
Call Ahead?: Yes - there are frequent closures here
Details:
The LA84 Foundation/John Argue Swim Stadium, previously called the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium, was built for the 1932 Summer Olympics. The facility was renamed in 2003 to honor the LA84 Foundation (a nonprofit created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to manage an endowment from the 1984 Summer Olympic games) and John Argue (a LA based lawyer instrumental in bringing the Games to Los Angeles in 1984.) This pool is owned by the City of LA and operates year round.
With all the leftover Olympic vibes and energy that permeates the place, this is a pretty cool pool to swim in and, in my opinion, the shining jewel of the City of LA’s Recreation and Parks Department Aquatics Division. The water is clean, the lap pool is separate from the rec pool, it has the most available lap lanes, and it is never, ever, busy. Let me say that again: it is never, ever, busy. I have only had to share a lane once, and that was for about 10 minutes.
All of that said, the hours for public lap swimming are not ideal. I typically visit on a Saturday afternoon when they are open 1:00 – 4:30 pm. During the summer they open on Sunday afternoons, but during the winter is it Saturday only. One other drawback is the pool closes for USC and NFL football games, and when Expo Park is being used for a big event like a music festival. I always look up the game schedule and call the facility before I go, just to be sure they are open.
I highly recommend this pool for kids and families as the recreation pool is pretty awesome. It has a big “beach” entry with the water lapping at the edge, and gradually gets deeper towards the other end. There are lots of colorful water features that get turned on every so often, and when they do, kids go nuts. It’s very cool and the variety of water jets really animate the space. It’s a mob scene on hot summer days, but totally worth a visit. The rec pool has three lap swimming lanes, but with the warmer water temperature and the odd length of 42 meters, it’s an unusual swimming experience.
The connection to the Olympics also makes the pool special. I’ve done some research and the pool was just gorgeous when it was built. I’m so glad the historic building wasn’t torn down during the renovation in 2002/2003. It is so fun to think that I can swim in the same lane as Olympians once swam and it always feels like I channel a little bit of energy from the games each time I visit.
Lap Passes: Yes. 30 swims for $87.50, and for kids/seniors, 30 swims for $25
Equipment: Kickboards and pull buoys that are almost new. There are a lot of them, too.
Ladies Locker Room: 6/10. The majority of this locker room is just fine, but the bag check area is set up in a slightly uncomfortable manner and the showers are a real sad situation.
Parking: There is no dedicated pool parking at Expo Park. I have only visited on Saturday afternoons so the Park is in full swing at this time.
