Portage Indoor Pool

I swam laps in the 50-meter, outdoor pool here over four days in early July. I had to buy a $25, one month pass through the city's website. Lap swimming opened at 9 AM. Three lanes were set up with lane lines but there was no lane speed designation, and the lifeguards didn't monitor.

This pool was the site of 1972 US Swimming Olympic Trials.

I think the indoor pool at Portage Park is great. It has a new locker room and adult swim times are much more flexible. The parking lot is a little far. At Shabbona park the pool is bigger and parking is close but the locker room for women is horrible. Also the swim times at Shabbona are not flexible. Given a choice, I will go to Portage Park. I don't get depressed when I walk in the locker room there.

The indoor pool is warm and in a very low-ceilinged, dark, stuffy room. The outdoor, seasonal (Memorial Day to Labor Day), pool is fabulous, with ample lap swimming hours in the morning, two or three lanes during the rest of the day, and a locker room going through a badly needed renovation.

A local swimmer advises that the nearby Shabbona Park Pool is a "much better choice" for swimming than this one.