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Long Beach, California

August 1, 2009

   

There's something about the word 'Olympic' that makes a place seem especially intriguing.  We're driven by the Belmont Olympic Plaza Pool many times, and I've told the story (wrong, it turns out) that Michael Phelps competed here in the 2004 trials for the Sydney games. It turns out that the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in 1968 and 1976 were here, and it was a training site during the 1984 Olympic Games, but no direct Olympic connection since then. 

We went in -- just to look -- but one peak at the high-dive boards and platforms turned us from lookers into swimmers.  Katie and Lisa had to complete a swim test first, and then it was off the boards.  The 10-meter platform was closed, for which I was most grateful, but the girls got to jump and dive from several others. 

Built in the late 1960s, the Greek modern building faces the Pacific Ocean and features glass panel walls and sliding doors which can open the facility to the open-air. For us, it was great just to be swimming and jumping with the surf and sailboats in the background.