While the facility is just shy of its one-year anniversary, North Dakota State University (NDSU) dove straight into unique pool programming for its aquatics facility. Ryan MacMaster, the aquatics coordinator at NDSU, said he worked directly with fitness coordinator Krista Gooris to choose what classes the facility should offer.
“How we chose what classes we were going to offer was a collaboration between her and I, after looking at the current trends in collegiate aquatics,” said MacMaster. “It’s important to have programs that are interesting and relevant to the current generation attending NDSU.”
Unique Pool Programming: GroupFit Classes
It seems as though the facility successfully embodied those ideas in their programming. MacMaster said the annual student and member survey had nothing but positive remarks on the facility’s GroupFit classes.
These classes include:
- Hydro Power: A class that works to improve your cardio conditioning, muscular strength and endurance.
- Swim Strong: A lap swim workout to help improve a participant’s fitness level, technique and stroke.
- Deep Water Hydro: A workout where 80% or more of your body is underwater. It challenges your core without putting stress on your joints.
While those GroupFit classes are free for members, there are additional classes for a fee that include:
- Paddle Board Yoga and BOGAFit: classes are on the same paddle boards that are used for paddle board yoga, except instead of yoga, participants are doing high-intensity exercise, like pushups, squat jumps and medicine ball tosses.
- Recreation/intramural programs such as Canoe Battleship and Inner Tube Water Polo.
MacMaster said that Swim Strong, Hydro Power, Paddle Board Yoga and Canoe Battleship are some of the most popular offerings in the facility. “We have three or four canoes in a pool at a time, three people per canoe,” he explained. “Each participant gets a five-gallon pail. And their goal is to sink the other team’s canoes first. The last canoe still floating is the winner of that round. Every two minutes we shrink the playing area smaller. This event [with 18 teams] lasts around three to four hours. Most of the participants wait for their team’s turn by hanging out in the leisure pool, playing volleyball or basketball, or relaxing in the hot tub.”
Unique Pool Programming: Events
The facility has also seen success in hosting events. For instance, these include movie nights where they project a movie such as “Jaws” on a large screen. And “Night Swim” which is they turn off the overhead lighting. The only lights are the underwater LED lights along with fire pit on the leisure pool deck.
According to MacMaster, “Night Swim” is the busiest the pool gets. The program runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
“We create a very unique and relaxing swim environment for our patrons,” said MacMaster. “We have extra lifeguards on duty to make sure everyone is safe.”
EXTRA CREDIT: Two aquatics professionals share the best practices for keeping these areas safe and clean.
While the facility has successfully reached its goal of programming for its audience, it can also take pride in being the cleanest aquatics facility in their region. MacMaster said maintaining the aquatic facility is a team effort.
“It’s the little touches, like making sure all the stainless steel railings and all the windows are being cleaned or polished every day,” explained MacMaster. “The pool decks are scrubbed multiple times a day in our downtime, along with each pool bottom getting vacuumed every day. Paying attention to the small details is what separates us from other facilities and programs.”
