Somewhere to practice from Bellevue to Everett

Question
Hi Tom,

I am originally from the greater Seattle area, but have lived in FL since 2000.  My 16 year old daughter just quit gymnastics at the end of May after 12 years as a Level 10 and decided to give diving a try.  She absolutely loves it.  She is at the Ripfest Diving Camp right now and will be on her high school diving team this year (as the only diver that they will have or ever have had).  She also dives for a local club.  We will be coming to visit family for the holidays (12/24 - 1/4) and would like to find somewhere that she can continue to practice while we are there.  We will be staying in the Bothell area, so I would like to try to find something between Bellevue and Everett.  Is there anything?

Thanks in advance,

Kimberly

Answer
I lived in the area you are referring to off and on for many years so I am familiar with the pools in the greater Puget Sound area. The area of King and Snohomish counties on the east side has pools with one meters only. There is an excellent facility in Federal Way with 3 meters and platforms that I will mention later but it may be too far to travel.

You will be in town during the boys high school diving season so the pools with boards will be dominated by boys swimming and diving. You will need to find out who is coaching the divers at these various pools and see if she can join in a workout. Here are the pools I know of to contact.

The Snohomish School District recently built a brand new pool in downtown Snohomish. Their website address is snohomishaquatic.com. Two high schools, Snohomish and Glacier Peak, use this pool.

There are 3 pools in the Everett area: Forest Park pool (City of Everett) is open to the public and has 3 high school teams using it. Kamiak High School in Mukelteo has a good diving well with two one meters and has a high school coach. So does Mariner High School in Everett.The high schools do not have public dive hours like Forest Park pool does.

There is a woman I know that coaches at various high schools and offers private workouts. Her name is Coach Jolynne. Her email is [email protected]. When you contact her, mention my name and I am sure she will respond. She is a good source of info on what pools are available over the holiday's.

There is also a coach in the Bothell area but I not know what pool she uses. Her name is Deb Dudenhaver Shelton. I do not have her contact info but you can search her name on Face Book and send her a private message. She is also affiliated with the Dive Seattle team listed below.

Finally, there is the pool in Federal Way, King County Aquatic Center, that has hosted every major diving event in the US including Olympic Trials on two occasions. It is a world class facility that if you have the time to go, I am sure your daughter would love to practice there. It is considered one of the best indoor pools in the US. Go to diveseattle.com for more info on days, workout times and contact info. This team also uses pools in the Bellevue area (I think it's called the Odell Pool) so ask about the availability of workouts there as well as on Mercer Island.

Good luck. I am sure you will find something.