Victor E Benstead Plunge

I signed up for adult swimming lessons here at the Plunge. Prior to this, I didn’t know how to swim at all, save for a bit of dog paddling. This review will mostly be for their classes, and then a bit about the facility.
The adult swim classes are organized by skill level: Total new swimmers are Guppies (that was me!), and the next levels up in order are Minnows (my second class!), Sharks, and Advanced Beginners. Advanced Beginners, really? Surely you can all think of another cool marine animal name! I vote Swordfish. You’re welcome ;)
Anyway, my Guppies instructor was Ashton and he was wonderful. He helped me get over my initial fear of putting my face in the water (believe me, it was a huge fear of mine and this was a HUGE deal), and he gave me the basic foundations for freestyle and backstroke swimming. After that class, I enjoyed it so much that I joined again, this time in the Minnows class under the instruction of Matt. Matt was also amazing! He took the skills I learned in Ashton’s class and helped me and others fine-​tune them. He also taught us more strokes like breaststroke, sidestroke, and dolphin kick.
When I first set foot in this pool, I could barely blow bubbles in the water. By the end of two class sessions, I was swimming a good few laps nonstop. If you’ve ever thought about taking up swimming, I HIGHLY recommend taking the classes here. The prices are crazy good and the instructors are awesome!
As for the facility, it’s really great for an outdoor pool! Sure, you’ll find a few stray foliage from the surrounding palm trees, maybe a dead bee once in a blue moon, but that’s not entirely unusual for an outdoor pool. It’s clear that they never let the pool get so dirty that it’s uncomfortable to swim in it, and I really appreciate that. I live in a housing complex with an outdoor pool and our HOA doesn’t do that, heh. The water is also very warm – I’ve gone swimming in below 60 °F weather and have been totally fine for the rest of the night.
Anyway, this is a great solid pool and I’ll be coming here for my swim workouts all the time. Another big shout out and thanks to Ashton and Matt, you guys are the best!

Made a video tour of the pool:
Went here this morning for the first time and had an amazing swim! It was 60 degrees out at about 6:30am, and the water is heated up to 81 degrees according to their website. I was surprisingly very comfortable. Even getting out of the pool wasn’t too bad, just had to rush to dry off. The locker rooms are heated, though to be honest the door is open and it isn’t much warmer than outside. I’m sure in the summers it is much better, but I was dying to swim even though it is still winter.
I forgot my lock of course, but rented one for only 50 cents. Staff are super friendly. Entrance is $ 3, but they also have the 11-​ticket booklet for $ 30 so you would save $ 3.
I hadn’t been in the water in a while so I had to get back into the hang of things. When I got there, there were only 2 other people, and by 7:00 the lanes were almost all filled but I didn’t have to share.
The only con was that the showers are super cold. I kept hoping the water would heat up, but nope. Still I was already sort of freezing so it didn’t make much of a difference. I guess I might have just gotten the one bad shower that wasn’t heated, as the others seem to be okay. There are plenty of lockers and changing stalls. There are also outlets for you to plug in a blow-​dryer, and the lockers stay open 15 minutes after the pool closes so you have time to change after your swim.
Overall, a wonderful experience, and I will totally be back on a regular basis.

Given the fact this is a public facility without the drive to excel & please customers as a private facility would, this review is probably just a waste of time.
Quick disclaimer, I work in an industry with countless rules & regulations, so I am absolutely not against any form of discipline nor structure where needed.
I am however very much against really dumb laws and more so the ones changing on you like the weather…
Brought my kids several times over the past couple of years. The ony true appeal for this pool given it is a solid 30 mins drive from MB where I live is the fact it has a deep section which my kids love. Each and every time I have been there (let’s say 8x total), I have been subject to some ridiculous last minute rule by the teenagers on staff. One day we could use fins but not a snorkel. The next time snorkel was fine but were told no fins, another time we were told not to use diving sticks… etc. Well, this weekend was the cherry on top of the cake…
My wife decided for once to join us with my newborn, just to get the whole family out together. As we get there, I did warn her about the complete randomness of do’s & don’ts. She sure was not disapointed…
First they tell her she cannot bring the stroller with her. When we asked why, they claimed this would impair the access for emergency vehicles if needed. Sure! That makes all the sense in the world. The firetruck and/​or ambulance would be really concerned by a stroller on deck if they did not have first to drive through the lobby and then the showers to access the deck. Are you serious? After putting the stroller back in the car they told her she cannot be by the pool unless she was in a bathing suit. Another item which makes perfect sense! She could not be there with a light summer dress but half of the people in the water were wearing full lenght swim trunks going below the knee and with their t-​shirts as well?
Anyway… my guess is that such behavior stems from the fact this is the only authority such low level staff will ever enjoy so they abuse of it. No consistency, no valid justification, horrible attitude… you really get what you pay for.

How shallow of me to finally sign up for adult swim lessons because of a boy?
YES I don’t know how to swim. And after all these years, it took a little convincing from my boyfriend to finally sign up. Actually he FORCED me to sign up.
Spring registration was a breeze… I did everything over the phone. The staff here was extremely helpful (actually from registration all the way to the end of my lesson). Why did I wait so long? It was only $ 60 for 10 classes (twice a week). Totally doable!
The first day was a little confusing (as one would expect). I didn’t feel alone cause it was all my people that didn’t know how to swim LOL. We were considered «guppies» and got assigned an instructor for each group of 3 — 5 guppies.
Kudos to my instructor Jonathan for being ever so patient to help me conquer my fears. And a special applause to our substitute Julie for finally getting me on my own with a kick board. I didn’t even know how to float when I first started. And wow did I come a long way!!!
We must’ve been lucky because the entire spring session was spent freezing under a windy weather since they have an outdoor pool. Poor Jonathan was freezing the entire time he was teaching us. The water was always warmer than outside so it helped a little. I ended up wearing a rash guard halfway through the course and it is RECOMMENDED.
I still have a long way to go so I am planning to sign up again for future swim lessons.
The parking is a breeze which is located right behind the building.

$ 3 for open lap swimming. It wasn’t crowded when I got there on Thursday night, so I got a lane all to myself. Some people complain about the water in the locker room. It’s a pool. What did you expect, to not get wet?
I went again on Monday night and there was a lady there who seemed adamant about getting the lane right by the wall, and yelled at me when I was standing in front of it. Calm down. You weren’t there and there wasn’t anything to indicate that you wanted that lane. I don’t have any emotional attachment to any lane, so I moved, but that lady was kinda rude to not only me but the staff there. But whatever. I’m not gonna penalize the pool for something that’s not their fault.
I definitely enjoy swimming here and I’ll be back regularly.

I usually have a nice time swimming there but they are so confused on how to operate the lap swim for swimmers. There are constantly slow swimmer in the fast lanes which leaves the fast swimmers to swim on the outside lanes and being in the way on the slow swimmers who enter the same swim lanes. The lifeguards need to make sure the slower swimmers stay in the lanes that are meant for them.

I’ve been going here 2x a week for the past few months (11a-​1pm) and really like it. The staff is helpful and there are plenty of lanes (I’ve only had to share 2 – 3 times). The only thing that could make it better for me is a cheaper day rate! I’m spending $ 24 a month to swim 2x a week. I asked and they do have a pass for $ 30 that is good for 11 swims, so go that route if you plan on frequenting the pool. Salt water, clean pool, kickboards, plenty of parking, and lifeguards. #WINNING! Oh, and once I forgot my towel and home and they let me borrow one. Very cool.

One of my favorites places as a kid, you could come here for an afternoon in the water and get some sun — with the safety of lifeguards watching out for anything going wrong. Not sure if the diving board is still there, but that was also a lot of fun.
Swim classes were always fun as I remember too.

Noe’s 1^st swim class!
This was my 4 year old daughter’s first ever official swimming lesson. I sure wish I had enrolled her sooner.
The cost is very reasonable. $ 25 for 5 sessions. I enrolled her in the «Tadpole» class for 3 – 5 year olds. There is also a «Parent & Me» class available, where the child can be in the water with a parent. So, I guess in retrospect, this is what I should have done maybe one or two years ago.
My daughter had a very traumatic experience about a month ago at a friend’s pool, so understandably, she was terrified and upset in the beginning.
The instructors «test» the kids to gauge their comfort level and abilities. My poor little one– she didn’t even want to get near the pool. So obviously, she was stuck in the group of «Petrified swimmers». Just kidding.
What I loved is that her instructor (Warren) was very, very patient and did not force any of the kids to do anything they did not want to, but also did not ignore the wall hangers either. He kept including the entire class, and made it fun for all of them. I appreciate the system they have going, where there are only 4 – 5 swimmers per instructor, plus another two lifeguards who are over-​seeing all the classes as well.
I’m hoping to sign my little one up for more classes through this program. I would love to take her to Akai or the Australian swim school, but this place fits my budget, the location is great, and now that we’ve started, so far so good… I like the instructors.

One gorgeous sunny summer day I was basking in the florescent light of my office when in walked in my fellow workers Zhaonian and Minchun looking all happy and sun kissed.
Me: Working hard guys? *serious face*
Them: We just got back from lap swimming! *relaxed fun in the sun faces*
Me: Where?! *disbelief face*
Them: The plunge! Down at the civic center. It’s like five minutes away. You should come next time! *relaxed fun in the sun faces*
Me: Oh sure. I’ll have five minutes to swim and spend the rest of my lunch break redoing my hair and makeup. Besides, I remember that place being over chlorinated and swarming with screaming kids. *sarcastic face*
Them: I think they use salt now and there aren’t any kids during lap swimming. You should just try it. *relaxed fun in the sun faces*
Why can’t my face look like that? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just try it. And just like that, bam, I became a regular at the plunge.
So, what’s the deal? Well, from noon until a little after one during the week there are lanes setup, slow-​fast, for your lap swimming pleasure. There are other times too, but these are the ones I know about. It costs $ 2, and for that you get a locker room, shower, restroom, pool, lifeguards, and the use of kickboards. Working in reverse order of things to discuss, the kickboards are awesome. If you’re a super swimmer and think you can kick out laps like no one’s business, grab yourself a kickboard because after one lap your legs will be on fire. I literally expected them to fall off my body because man, that’s a lot of work. The pool itself is a-​okay. Much better than I remember from my early middle school days of sheer pandemonium. I usually have about four other people in my slow lane, and as Minchun promised, not over chlorinated, but salty. The locker room facilities are as expected for a city pool. Not the tidiest place ever, but it gets the job done for the most part. If you don’t have a lock of your own, go down to Target and buy one, but if you’re stubborn and don’t, you can always rent one for $.50. Also, you can just take your bag out onto the deck with you and leave it on the huge block thing on the far side of the pool. There are changing rooms and restrooms which both have a constant puddle of water, so just figure out a balancing act to make sure you don’t drop anything in said water. And last, there are the showers. They are the annoying push button showers. There is a coveted turn knob shower that I assume is meant to be a handicapable spot, and so I usually suck it up with the push button. I have made due though, so really it’s just a slight annoyance.
All in all, with the close proximity and cheap price, this is an awesome little break in my day for the summer months.

The lap swimming hours here cannot be at any later hours. Besides the morning session that is too early for me to make, the evening session spans from 7:30pm to 9pm. For an outdoor pool, this means freezing temperature by the time you get out (during the spring months). Another annoyance is that… by the evening, the water in the pool is not as clear and blue. It stops smelling like chlorine and the taste is um… shall I say saltier than usual. I don’t want to know what has been added to the pool but I do have a wild imagination. Nonetheless, for two bucks I can get my swim on. There wouldn’t be too many people so most likely you would get your own lane. They have plenty of kick boards but bring your own pull buoy. They often run out of this and you would get stuck with some defective one that no one wants. The bathroom is not as clean as I want it to be and the shower is the pushed-​faucet kind that you have to push and hold for the water to keep flowing.