October 2020: Ontario Reviewed and 33 New Listings in Israel
In October 2020 we finished reviewing Ontario, added 33 listings in Israel and explained why listings do not record temporary pandemic measures. The Pools of the Month are two new Olympic-size pools in the United States.
This pool listings update for October 2020 explains how we handle pandemic information, reports the finished review of Ontario and adds 33 new listings from Israel.
Pandemic information in listings
Pools around the world adjusted their operations to protect patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of users sent us notes, reviews and updates about pools they had visited or tried to visit. We appreciate them. We have decided, though, not to record the temporary measures pools have taken during the pandemic, for three reasons:
- We can review listings only rarely. Nearly 4,000 pools have not been reviewed since the current whole-site review began in late 2014. Special procedures would stay in the listings for years after the pandemic ends, and the listings would look dated.
- Most pools describe the measures they have taken, and what swimmers must do, in detail on their own websites.
- Swimmers who have not visited a facility before should contact it first to learn what to expect. That conversation is also the time to ask about any new rules.
We hope that explains what you will and will not find in the listings as you look for pools.
Database news
In October we finished reviewing the 412 listings in Ontario, Canada, and the province ended with a net reduction to 400. A few private clubs closed, but most of the drop came from Toronto, where the school district has closed a number of pools entirely during the pandemic. It had rented them to local swimming clubs and teams. Those pools were not open to the general public. We had listed them because they hosted youth and Masters swim teams.
We had hoped to go on to Italy next, but Italy entered a second pandemic shutdown just as we finished Ontario. Instead we found several websites with many leads in Israel and added 33 new listings there. Pools in Israel are also closed, but collecting the basic details (name, address, telephone number and pool dimensions) was not a problem. Accessibility information, costs and water temperatures were harder to get. We sent 28 email inquiries in Hebrew and received only two partial replies. We hope to fill in those details once the pools reopen.
Help wanted: Movati Athletic
While reviewing Ontario we found the website of Movati Athletic, a private health club chain with 17 locations in the province. Fifteen of them have swimming pools, and five of those have two pools. Where there are two, the chain calls one the "coed pool" and the other the "women's pool".
