Desert Foothills YMCA

I agree with previous reviewers. It's a newer facility; friendly; and clean when I visited. The water temperature was 79ºF (26ºC) and it was a little busy at 6 AM, but not awful. People were patient and friendly and the lanes nearest the wall are wide enough for comfortable split share. Folks were swimming on the immediate beach side of the wall, so it was more like 4 lanes. I agree about it being splashy - not awful, but noticeable. The stripe on the bottom was intermittent tiles, and there were no end wall targets, which makes timing the turns a little off sync at first. Also, there are jets and miscellaneous pool wall accessories on the end walls that were positioned oddly and were felt on the turns. I was in the lane nearest the internal wall, splitting the lane. The small, men’s locker room was adequate and reasonably clean. The programmable locks are convenient for day use. I’d swim here again, but wouldn’t necessarily seek it out.

Bring a towel. Friendly staff and swimmers. I haven't tried the facilities mentioned by the other reviewer but they are a good 20 minutes away.

I've only been here once, but I would not recommend it as a choice for lap swimming, especially if you want to do anything fast. While the facility was nice and new, I was surprised at both how cloudy the water was and dirty the bottom was. The lap lanes are shallow (4'6"), with no gutters and a wall separating the third lap lane from the 'beach' area. While on the face of it, that sounds like a good idea as it separates the 'play' area from the 'real swimming' area, the walls with no gutters and only three lanes means that you get a LOT of wave action while swimming. That wave action is exacerbated by loose lane ropes that attach about 4-6" under the water. If there's nothing else open and this is your only option, by all means swim here. If, however, you have the opportunity to go to one of the relatively nearby City of Scottsdale pools at either McDowell Mountain Ranch or Cactus Aquatic Center, you'll have a much better experience.