Sometimes I hear this when asked why Cary doesn’t have a municipal pool, “Private industry already covers the Town’s aquatics needs.”  This reasoning is usually provided by people who either don’t have aquatics needs or live in a certain area of Cary.  So here’s the coverage map for indoor pools in and around Cary.

Couple notes regarding how a pool made the list and the coverage area. To make the list, the facility must offer year round access to pools. So outdoor pools are not included since they only provide access 3 or 4 months out of the year. The exception is a pool that bubbles during the winter to provide year round access (e.g. YMCA, Cary Swim Club, and Morrisville Aquatic Center).

To determine the coverage area for a pool, municipal commissioned aquatic studies from other areas were consulted as a guide and then applied against the Town of Cary pools. In general, the larger the pool and aquatic complex, the larger the coverage area.

As the map shows, the Northwest and Southwest portions of the Town of Cary are quite underserved. Southwest Town of Cary has no close options and Northwest has only one relatively expensive option (UNC Wellness Center).

While central Cary appears well served, it should be noted that the four pools serving this area are more limited use types of pools. Morrisville Aquatic is an older pool, has fewer than 6 lanes, is bubbled in the winter, and lacks wave-reducing gutters. Sport2Sport has very narrow lanes and also lacks wave-reducing gutters. Rex Wellness – Cary not surprisingly caters more to a water aerobics crowd and not lap swimming / learn to swim. The fourth pool, Cary Family YMCA is arguably the nicest of the four, however, it’s an older pool that’s bubbled in the winter and is only available to those with a monthly membership (no drop in day passes).

Eastern Cary benefits greatly from the Triangle Aquatic Center as well as supplemental coverage from Cary Swim Club and Life Time Fitness. Because Triangle Aquatic Center is such a nice pool, it does suffer from crowding during peak usage times. This is less of a negative regarding the facility and more of a statement regarding the high demand for quality swimming pools in the area.