endless pools/aquatics

[Guest guest]

(At the Fitness Center where I do my aquatics and swimming, these are

the kind of pools we use ~ Gretchen)

'Endless pools' splash onto fitness scene

Saturday, March 13, 2004 Posted: 8:35 AM EST (1335 GMT)

Valarie Arms and her family say they spend a lot of time in their

15-foot pool with a recirculating current that gives swimmers the

aquatic version of a treadmill.

LANDSDOWNE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- In the back of her two-story brick

colonial, in a small patio-sized add-on, Valarie Arms adjusts a valve on

her miniature indoor pool and watches a churning current shoot out like

a small stream.

With mounds of snow sitting just outside her windows, she maneuvers into

the 91-degree current and starts to backstroke in place, part of a

swimming routine that helps her arthritis.

" It has tremendously improved my quality of life, " said Arms, an English

professor at Drexel University. " Somebody just this week asked me if

I've seen my chiropractor, who is kind of a friend because I saw him so

much, but I haven't seen him this year. "

Swim-in-place pools or aquatic treadmills or Endless Pools (a brand

name) are gaining popularity among baby boomers whose creaky knees can

no longer take a pounding, avid swimmers, people seeking a healthier

lifestyle and those who need medical rehabilitation. The $20,000

baseline price is seen as a worthy investment, and that thinking has

translated into increased sales.

" It's amazing what it's done for me, " said 70-year-old Anne Banse, who

suffers from arthritis, has two artificial knees and recently had back

surgery. Before the surgery she swam 20 minutes five times a week.

" I get in there, the water is heated to 85, and I just come out ready to

start the day, " said Banse, who lives near Philadelphia. " It was so

tremendously the right thing to do. "

The pools average 8 feet by 15 feet and 3 to 5 feet deep. The top models

shoot out a wide, deep and steady stream of water that turns the

oversized bathtub into a lap lane that never ends.

Aquatics expert Tom Griffiths, who wrote about swim-in-place pools in

his book " The Complete Swimming Pool Reference, " said swimming in the

" wet treadmills " is great exercise because there's no stress on hips,

knees or ankles.

" There's a lot more people swimming for fitness today, and usually to

swim for fitness you need a long lap pool, and this puts a lap pool in a

very small space, " said Griffiths, the director of aquatics at Penn

State University.

Boomers lapping up the products

Pool owners rave that they can swim year-round, that the pools require

minimal maintenance and that flip turns aren't required every 25 yards.

The pools can be put anywhere -- from basements to garages to gorgeous

skylight-laden additions.

Endless Pools, headquartered 20 miles outside Philadelphia, in Aston,

was started in 1988 by 32-year-old Murdock, a Princeton University

engineering graduate. He calls an Endless Pool " the perfect product for

an aging population. "

" We have very sedentary lifestyles, and I think this is going at the

heart of that, " he said.

Endless Pools, the self-proclaimed industry leader of the residential

swim-in-place pool, has seen sales take off. Revenue grew from $100,000

in 1989 to $22 million last year, on sales of 1,100 pools. Murdock said

Endless Pools could sell 3,000 a year in five years. He's eyeing Britain

-- and its miserable climate -- as a burgeoning market.

Murdock said his average customer's household income is $125,000. Most

buy a pool for fitness, but many use them for conditions like multiple

sclerosis or post-polio.

Residential sales last year at SwimEx, headquartered in Warren, Rhode

Island, increased 84 percent over the year before.

" We have seen a dynamic trend toward a younger residential customer, "

said spokeswoman Toone. " Before it would have been mid- to late

60s and early 70s, people who really need the benefits of aquatic

therapy. Now I think the demographic is trending toward mid- to late

40s. "

The pools aren't found only in homes. The polar bears at New York's

Central Park Zoo have an Endless Pool in their icy tank, and vacationers

swim in place on Princess cruise ships. SwimEx pools are used by dozens

of professional and college sports teams.

On a recent blustery Sunday, Arms and neighbor Joanne Boyle did water

aerobics while Arms' grandson and Boyle's son -- two goggled 5-year-olds

-- alternately paddled in the current and filled their bathing suits

with air from the side whirlpool jets.

Boyle, playing lifeguard in a nearby chair, said his wife would

love a swim-in-place pool of her own.

" We belong to the healthplex, but she swims here more often, " he said.

" I guess you can't beat the convenience of it all year-round, right in

your own home. "