<p>Does UCR have a club level aquatics program? I wasn't a swimmer in high school because it coincided with volleyball season, but being from San Diego and having grown up with a pool in my backyard, I was saddened by the extremely short hours in addition to a membership fee to use the pool. I've never swam competitively but I grew up in the water all of my life and can swim free, breast, and back decently -- I find fly a bit tougher. I would love to try and compete for a swim team at UCR if it meant better access to the pool.</p>
<p>I checked the student org directory briefly and didn't come across anything -- does anyone have information on this? Please and thank you.</p>
<p>NO. these is no swimming programs/teams at UCR.</p>
<p>I was a competitive from childhood 'til end of HS. turned down a USC swimming scholarship to concentrate on academics (dumbest mistake of my life). they have a sorry excuse for a pool. think it’s 5 or six lanes and only opened at certain times. I remember it was always shady which can be too cold at times</p>
<p>Well that’s horrible. I assumed the terrible hours (which as of now are 11am-2pm on weekdays) were because the swim/polo teams had it during the morning and at night. I find it almost insulting that we have to pay to use it for such an incredibly short window of time. And is it really that small? There are even high schools in San Diego with Olympic size pools, so I find that a bit sad. Haha.</p>
<p>go to google maps, search for UC Riverside, look for the “Physical Education Building” right under the google pointer. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on campus, I don’t remember if the pool is 25 yards or meters. but it’s roughly half the length of Olympic regulation pools which is 50 meters. I live in Irvine now. Irvine High has TWO…yes TWO 50m pools AND another 25m pool. it’s awesome (google map that too!)</p>
<p>I’ll find a way to tolerate it, I suppose – I don’t have an alternative, in any event. And that’s a very, very impressive aquatics center, especially given the size of the school in comparison – it’s easily about 1/3rd the size of the entire campus and those are all beautiful pools. My alma mater has it’s own attention-getting feature – West Hills High in the San Diego area – a new football stadium with bright blue turf as the centerpiece. (The pool was recently installed, last year, immediately east of the stadium where the sand volleyball courts are barely visible next to the baseball field) The turf, I suppose, grows on you:)</p>
<p>It is incredibly stupid that the school makes students pay for a pool membership, especially when we are automatically charged for the Rec Center. Anyways, if you don’t want to pay for the school pool, you can befriend students who live in the nearby apartments (Grand Marc, Stonehaven, The Palms, UV Towers, Sterling Highlander, and more). They aren’t Olympic sized, but they are better than paying extra money.</p>
<p>It seems that UCR doesn’t have a program geared particularly for swimming. However, they are planning on expanding the Student Recreational Center in 2014. This will add a new, larger swimming pool complete with a spa. Here’s the link if you want more information (I believe they have a picture of this pool on the page):</p>
<p>[SRC</a> Expansion](<a href=“http://www.recreation.ucr.edu/SRC_expansion/Pages/landing.aspx]SRC”>http://www.recreation.ucr.edu/SRC_expansion/Pages/landing.aspx)</p>
<p>A few things:</p>
<p>-No, UCR doesn’t have an aquatics program. It did have a water polo program in the 70s, but once USA Water Polo changed the size of regulation pools, the pool behind the PE building was deemed too small for official games and the water polo program fell off the wayside. Title IX also resulted in the need for men’s and women’s teams, which I’m assuming cost too much for UCR at the time.</p>
<p>-The PE building pool is about five or six lanes wide and it’s well maintained. However, pool memberships are a necessity since it’s rarely used by most of the student body. Since it’s rarely used, its hours are designed to meet the times when people generally do come to swim.</p>
<p>-With that said, the area around UCR is full of impressive swimming and water polo programs in local high schools, and there’s a lot of talent in the Inland Empire. So, there’s a small movement starting to bring aquatics back to campus in time for the SRC expansion in 2014. It’s not a swim team, but here’s a Facebook page for an upcoming water polo club if you’re interested: [Log</a> In | Facebook](<a href=“http://www.facebook.com/groups/171770856286501/]Log”>http://www.facebook.com/groups/171770856286501/)</p>
<p>You can also check out the Riverside Aquatics Association, which is a pretty big swimming club that meets at RCC’s aquatics center (which is about 12 minutes from campus). Link: [Riverside</a> Aquatics Association :](<a href=“▷ Best Intex Pool Pumps for Pools - Don't buy before you read this!”>▷ Best Intex Pool Pumps for Pools - Don't buy before you read this!)</p>
<p>-As Integral mentioned, the Student Rec center will be expanded to include full pool with more lanes and, presumably, room for a swim and/or water polo club.</p>
<p>I’m a swimmer, too, and one of the only things I dislike about UCR is that it doesn’t have an aquatics program. Let’s start a new one!</p>