Moving to Crystal City, VA. Need help with pools.

I lived there for 2 years. I wasn't fond of the public/school pools. Are you military? If so, the Ft. Myer/Marine base pool is nice and open mostly year round.

You can pay a fee to join the DC pool at Hains Point right over the river. 50m pool, it's very nice. Military usually doesn't have to pay (I never did). It is only open after Memorial Day or sometime around there. 

Washington and Lee High School was just re-done, it's a really nice pool now, there are times it can still get crowded but a good portion of the time I just have to split a lane when I go and don't have to circle swim.

There are 2 sport and health's in Crystal City, one has a pool but not sure how crowded it gets.

Wakefield is the closest HS to Crystal City and they have a pool, not new like W&L but works well enough.

I used to go to the S&H in Crystal City - I never felt that it was too crowded (but I would also swim at 5:30/6am - just had to watch out for the master's class that went from 5-6). 


ETA: There is an entrace by 18th street to the Mt. Vernon trail (it comes out right around mile 14), which is perfect for running and cycling - you should check it out, if you haven't!

Edited by rbtrumpet 2011-02-01 7:12 AM

Thank's for the feed back.  I'm not military, but do work for DOJ.  I will check about Fort Meyer.  I may also look at S&H to see if that would be a good option for me.  Thanks for the tip about the running trail.  Since I am in NY City and have been covered in snow and Ice for a month, I can't wait to get down there and run outside again.  Any good group bike rides on weekend or tri groups who train together?

There are quite a few tri groups in the area

Team Z
Fexy
TPR
DC Tri

I'm sure people from these groups will post, I think Team Z or DC Tri are probably the closest that train to Crystal City.

I am sure they all do group rides. 

There are quite a few bike racing teams in the area that do rides, most will probably want a road bike to ride with.  There are always people going around Haines point, it's a very flat, fewish cars 3.5 mile loop right across the memorial bridge.  Lots of riders/runners/etc.

This area is loaded with places and people to train with

Thanks dalessit.  I will check with the different groups, but i might as well ask.   Any duathlons or race series that you know of early in the season?  I have an A race may 1, was hoping to have at least one tune up before that. Not finding too much in Active.com or BT.

I'm a TPR guy, but would recommend Team Z or DC because we run most of our training near Dulles Airport Area.

Lake Anna Rumpass in Bumpass for Spring Tris.

Welcome.

You can find our team at teamtpr.shutterfly.com

Herndon/Reston would be a haul for training.  Saw the Bumpass race.  That's also a little far to go, but it looks like maybe the race starts later in the day which would help.  I guess I'm spoiled in NY City area you are never more than a few weeks or 20 miles from an event.  Thanks for the tip.

Edited by Unit1158 2011-02-04 12:15 PM

Yeah there aren't that many races inside the beltway on the VA side.  DC and Nations Tri are the closest but not in the beginning of the season.

setup events runs the majority of the races in the area, many times races in Maryland will be closer to Arlington than races in VA as they are all going to be a bit further out.  There are a few races in reston as well that are not under Setup, those are fairly close but nothing early that I know of.

I'll take a look at MD see what I find.  Do I dare even ask if there are any OW swim areas around DC?

Hey! I live in Crystal City too, and am on Team Z. There are quite a few Z'ers in the area. Happy to give you the details on the team, just send me a message. There are team swim practices that might solve your swimming issues if you're interested in joining. There's also a new LA Fitness down the street that is SUPER nice and cheap, and they have a nice bromine pool that never is very crowded.

For races, the new Maryland Triathlon series just launched and there are a few races within an hour (Sprints, Olys, and one Half) but they're not really early season. Also, Virginia Triathlon Series has a few within 2 hours. If you go to Team Z's website, triteamz.com and look at the races there it should be a nice group of local (and less local) races.

As far as open water swims, Gunston Manor does swims on the weekends in the summer, which is about a 30 minutes drive from CC. They're supported by Team Z, but I think they're open to anyone with USAT or Masters IDs. They're $10 a pop I think.

I've met multiple prospective Team Z folks on here, so I'm happy to forward along the information I've sent them if you want more details.

When are you moving down? Happy to meet up for coffee once you're here since I'm so close!

Thanks for the info. You answered every question.  I will be moving down at the end of the month.  Please send me any info about team Z.  I looked on the web site, but couldn't seem to find much specific info about group training or membership cost. Thanks for the OW tip.   

I also live in Crystal City.  The two best options right now for you probably are to get a place that has an indoor pool, or get a membership at LA Fitness on the south end of the CC.  Like Yoga mentioned, this LAFitness is not your normal health club.  It used to be Esporta, a higher end chain....so all the amenities are top notch including towel service and a pool that does not burn or dry out your eyes or skin.  Currently it is running about $40/month and is more than worth it if the only thing you do there is swim.

Thanks for the post.  I will check it out when I get there in 2 weeks.  Did you have to pay an initiation fee?  How crowded is it during the hours you swim?  Thanks.

Edited by Unit1158 2011-02-11 11:28 PM

Here's what i know: It sounds like in the evening, there are few people in the pool. My BF says he has gone at 7pm and he's the only one there.

You have a couple options with pricing I think. Be careful, as they always pull the "Oh, but today's the last day of this rate!" game, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly constant. $45/month with no initiation, or $120 initiation and $30 monthly, and a couple other choices too.

You can also check out the pool at TC Williams high school (yes, from remember the Titans).  I used to swim there 3-4 times a week and I always found it to be nice.

I am member of LA Fitness just south of CC (intersection of Glebe & Jeff Davis Hwy).  Very nice.  I joined when they were running some special -- paid one lump sum.  Pool is never crowded.  Love the place.